Jasper Johns
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Jasper Johns (born May 15, 1930) is an American painter, sculptor, draftsman, and
printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed technique ...
. Considered a central figure in the development of American postwar art, he has been variously associated with
abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...
,
Neo-Dada Neo-Dada was an art movement with audio, visual and literary manifestations that had similarities in method or intent with earlier Dada artwork. It sought to close the gap between art and daily life, and was a combination of playfulness, iconoclas ...
, and pop art movements. Johns was born in
Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...
, and raised in South Carolina. He graduated as valedictorian from Edmunds High School in 1947 and briefly studied art at the
University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...
before moving to New York City and enrolling at
Parsons School of Design The Parsons School of Design is a private art and design college under The New School located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhattan art ...
. His education was interrupted by military service during the
Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
. After returning to New York in 1953, he worked at Marboro Books and began associations with key figures in the art world, including
Robert Rauschenberg Milton Ernest "Robert" or "Bob" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combine painting, Combines (1954 ...
, with whom he had a
romantic relationship Romance or romantic love is a feeling of love for, or a strong attraction towards another person, and the courtship behaviors undertaken by an individual to express those overall feelings and resultant emotions. The ''Wiley Blackwell En ...
until 1961. The two were also close collaborators, and Rauschenberg became a profound artistic influence. Johns's art career took a decisive turn in 1954 when he destroyed his existing artwork and began creating paintings of
flag A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...
s,
map A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a space. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on ...
s,
targets ''Targets'' is a 1968 American crime thriller film directed by Peter Bogdanovich in his theatrical directorial debut, and starring Tim O'Kelly, Boris Karloff, Nancy Hsueh, Bogdanovich, James Brown, Arthur Peterson and Sandy Baron. The film ...
, letters, and numbers for which he became most recognized. These works, characterized by their incorporation of familiar symbols, marked a departure from the individualism of Abstract Expressionist style and posed questions about the nature of representation. His use of familiar imagery, such as the
American flag The national flag of the United States, often referred to as the American flag or the U.S. flag, consists of thirteen horizontal Bar (heraldry), stripes, Variation of the field, alternating red and white, with a blue rectangle in the Canton ( ...
, played on the ambiguity of
symbol A symbol is a mark, Sign (semiotics), sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, physical object, object, or wikt:relationship, relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by cr ...
s, and this thematic exploration continued throughout his career in various mediums, including sculpture and printmaking. Among other honors, Johns received the Golden Lion at the
Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...
in 1988, the
National Medal of Arts The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and Patronage, patrons of the arts. A prestigious American honor, it is the highest honor given to artists and ar ...
in 1990, and the
Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, alongside the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by decision of the president of the United States to "any person recommended to the President ...
in 2011. He was elected to the
American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, Music of the United States, music, and Visual art of the United States, art. Its fixed number ...
in 1973 and the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
in 2007. He has supported the
Merce Cunningham Dance Company Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham (April 16, 1919 – July 26, 2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years. He frequently collaborated with artists of other discipl ...
and contributed significantly to the
National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...
's print collection. Johns is also a co-founder of the
Foundation for Contemporary Arts The Foundation for Contemporary Arts (FCA), is a nonprofit based foundation in New York City that offers financial support and recognition to contemporary performing and visual artists through awards for artistic innovation and potential. It was ...
. He currently lives and works in Connecticut. In 2010, his 1958 painting ''Flag'' was sold for a reported $110 million in a private transaction, becoming the most expensive artwork sold by a living artist.


Life

Born in Augusta, Georgia, Jasper Johns spent his early life in Allendale, South Carolina, with his paternal grandparents after his parents divorced. He began drawing at the age of three and knew very early on that he wanted to be an artist, despite having little exposure to the arts where he grew up. His paternal grandfather's first wife, Evalina, painted landscapes that hung in the homes of several family members. These paintings were the only artworks Johns remembers seeing in his youth. Following his grandfather's death in 1939, Johns spent a year living with his mother and stepfather in Columbia, South Carolina, and then six years living with his Aunt Gladys on Lake Murray, South Carolina. He spent summer holidays with his father, Jasper, Sr., and stepmother, Geraldine Sineath Johns, who encouraged his art by buying materials for him to draw and paint. He graduated as valedictorian of Edmunds High School (now Sumter High School) class of 1947 in
Sumter Sumter may refer to: People Given name * Sumter S. Arnim (1904–1990), American dentist * Sumter de Leon Lowry Jr. (1893–1985), United States Army general Surname * Rowendy Sumter (born 1988), Curaçaoan footballer * Shavonda E. Sumt ...
, South Carolina, where he once again lived with his mother and her family. Johns studied art for a total of three semesters at the
University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...
at Columbia, from 1947 to 1948. Encouraged by his professors, he then moved to New York City and enrolled briefly at the
Parsons School of Design The Parsons School of Design is a private art and design college under The New School located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhattan art ...
in 1949. In 1951, Johns was drafted into the army during the
Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
, serving for two years, first in Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and then in
Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,098,335 in 539,698 households, making it the List of cities in Japan, twelfth most populated city in Japan. ...
, Japan. Returning to New York in the summer of 1953, Johns worked at Marboro Books and began to meet some of the artists who would be formative in his early career. These included Sari Dienes, Rachel Rosenthal, and
Robert Rauschenberg Milton Ernest "Robert" or "Bob" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combine painting, Combines (1954 ...
, with the latter of whom Johns began a romantic and artistic relationship that would last until 1961. During the same period Johns was strongly influenced by the choreographer
Merce Cunningham Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham (April 16, 1919 – July 26, 2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years. He frequently collaborated with artists of other discipl ...
and his partner, the composer
John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...
. Working together, they explored the contemporary art scene, and began sharing their ideas on art. In March 1957, while visiting Rauschenberg's studio, the gallery owner
Leo Castelli Leo Castelli ( Krausz; September 4, 1907 – August 21, 1999) was an Italian-American art dealer who originated the contemporary art gallery system. His gallery showcased contemporary art for five decades. Among the movements which Castelli s ...
asked to see Johns's art. As Castelli recalled: "So we went down. It was just the floor below. There was a fantastic display of flags and targets. You know the target with the plastic eyes, the one with the faces. The ''Green Target'' was at the Jewish Museum, but there was a big white flag, a smaller white flag, numbers, the alphabet, anything—all those great masterpieces." Castelli immediately offered Johns an exhibition. His first solo show at the Leo Castelli Gallery, held in early 1958, was well received; all but two of the eighteen works on view sold. Alfred H. Barr Jr., the founding director of New York's
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
, purchased three paintings from the show, which were the first works by Johns to enter a museum collection. Johns has lived and worked in various homes and studios in New York City throughout his career and, from 1973 to 1987, maintained a rustic 1930s farmhouse with a glass-walled studio in
Stony Point, New York Stony Point is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Rockland County, New York, United States. It is part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. The town is located north of the town of Haverstraw, New York, Haverstraw, east and ...
. He began visiting the Caribbean island of Saint Martin in the late 1960s, buying property there in 1972, and, later, building a home and studio, for which
Philip Johnson Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect who designed modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the postmodern 550 ...
was the principal designer. Johns currently lives and works in Sharon, Connecticut. Following his death, the artist plans to transform his 170-acre property in Sharon, Connecticut, into an artists' residency. He has lived there since the 1990s. It will provide a live-work space for 18 to 24 artists at a time and will be open to visual artists, poets, musicians, dancers.


Work


Painting

In 1954, Johns destroyed all of his previous artwork still in his possession and began the paintings for which he is best known: depictions of flags, maps, targets, letters, and numbers. His use of such symbols differentiated his paintings from the gestural abstraction of the Abstract Expressionists, whose works were often understood as expressive of the individual personality or psychology of the artist. With well-known motifs imported into his art, his paintings could be read as both representational (a flag, a target) and as abstract (stripes, circles). Some art historians and museums characterize his choice of subjects as freeing him from decisions about composition. Johns has remarked: "What's interesting to me is the fact that it isn't designed, but taken. It's not mine," or, that these motifs are "things the mind already knows." His early encaustic painting ''
Flag A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...
'' (1954–55), painted after having a dream of it, marks the beginning of this new period. The motif allowed Johns to create a painting that was not completely abstract because it depicts a symbol (the American flag), yet it draws attention to the design of the symbol itself. The work evades the personal because it depicts a national symbol, and yet, it maintains a sense of the handmade in Johns's wax brushstrokes; it is neither a literal flag, nor a purely abstract painting. The work thus raises a set of complex questions with no clear answers through its combination of symbol and medium. Indeed, Alfred H. Barr could not convince the trustees of the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
to directly acquire the painting from Johns's first solo show, as they were afraid its ambiguity might lead to boycott or attack by patriotic groups during the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
climate of the late 1950s. Barr was, however, able to arrange for the architect
Philip Johnson Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect who designed modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the postmodern 550 ...
to buy the painting and later donate it to the museum in 1973. The flag remains one of Johns's most enduring motifs; the art historian Roberta Bernstein recounts that "between 1954 and 2002, he employed virtually his full array of materials and techniques in twenty-seven paintings, ten individual or editioned sculptures, fifty drawings, and eighteen print editions that depict the flag as the primary image." Johns is also known for including three-dimensional objects in his paintings. These objects can be either found (the ruler in ''Painting with Ruler and "Gray,"'' 1960) or specifically made (the plaster reliefs in ''Target with Four Faces'', 1955). This practice challenges the typical conception of painting as a two-dimensional realm. Johns's early and enduring use of the medium of encaustic also presented the opportunity to experiment with texture. An ancient technique, encaustic is a process whereby melted wax mixed with pigment is applied and "burned into" a support. The method allowed Johns to preserve the discrete quality of individual brushstrokes, even when layered, creating textured yet, at times, transparent surfaces. Johns's 2020 work '' Slice'' reproduces a drawing of a knee by Jéan-Marc Togodgue, a Cameroonian emigre student basketball player who attended the Salisbury School near Johns's estate in Sharon. Johns's use of Togodgue's artwork without first notifying him led to a dispute that was settled amicably.


Sculpture

Johns made his first sculpture, ''Flashlight I'', in 1958. Many of his earliest sculptures are single, freestanding objects modeled from a material called Sculp-metal, a pliable metallic medium that could be applied and manipulated much like paint or clay. During this period, he also employed casting techniques to make objects out of plaster and bronze. Some of these objects are painted to suggest a certain sense of verisimilitude;
Painted Bronze
' (1960), for example, depicts a can painted with the Savarin Coffee label. Filled with cast paintbrushes, the work recalls an object one might find on an artist's studio table. ''Numbers'' (2007), which depicts his now classic pattern of stenciled numerals repeated in a grid, and is the largest single bronze Johns has made to date. Another sculpture from this period, a double-sided relief titled ''Fragment of a Letter'' (2009), incorporates part of a letter from
Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...
to his friend, the artist Émile Bernard. On one side of the relief, Johns pressed each letter of van Gogh's words into the wax model. On the other side, he spelled each letter in the
American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that i ...
alphabet using stamps he designed. Johns signed the wax model with impressions of his own hand, his name finger-spelled in two vertical rows.


Prints

Johns began experimenting with printmaking techniques in 1960, when Tatyana Grosman, the founder of Universal Limited Art Editions, Inc. (ULAE), invited him to her printmaking studio on Long Island. Beginning with lithographs that explore the common objects and motifs for which he is best known, such as
Target
' (1960), Johns continued to work closely with ULAE, publishing over 180 editions in a variety of printmaking techniques to investigate and develop existing compositions. Initially, lithography suited Johns and enabled him to create print versions of iconic depictions of flags, maps, and targets that filled his paintings. In 1971, Johns became the first artist at ULAE to utilize the handfed offset lithographic press, resulting in ''Decoy'' — an image realized as a lithograph before it became a drawing or painting. Johns has worked with other printmakers throughout his career, producing lithographs and lead reliefs at Gemini G.E.L. in Los Angeles; screenprints with Hiroshi Kawanishi at Simca Prints in New York from 1973–75; and intaglios published by Petersburg Press at Atelier Crommelynck in Paris from 1975–90, including a collaboration with the author
Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...
that resulted in ''Foirades/Fizzles'' (1976), a book of five text fragments by Beckett in French and English and 33 intaglios by Johns. He produced ''Cup 2 Picasso'' as an offset lithograph for the June 1973 issue of the magazine ''XXe siècle'' and, in 2000, completed an edition of 26 linocuts printed by the Grenfell Press and published by Z Press to accompany Jeff Clark's ''Sun on 6''. For the May 2014 issue of '' Art in America'', he created an unnumbered black-and-white offset lithograph depicting many of his signature motifs. In 1995, Johns hired master printmaker John Lund and began to construct his own printmaking studio on his property in Sharon, Connecticut. Low Road Studio was officially founded in 1997 as Johns's own publishing imprint.


Collaborations

For decades Johns worked with others to raise both funds and attention for
Merce Cunningham Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham (April 16, 1919 – July 26, 2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years. He frequently collaborated with artists of other discipl ...
's Dance Company. He assisted
Robert Rauschenberg Milton Ernest "Robert" or "Bob" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combine painting, Combines (1954 ...
in some of his 1950s designs for Cunningham's sets and costumes. In spring 1963, Johns and
John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...
cofounded the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts (now the Foundation for Contemporary Arts), to raise funds in the performance field. Johns continued his support of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, and served as an artistic adviser from 1967 to 1980. In 1968 Cunningham made a Duchamp-inspired theater piece, ''Walkaround Time'', for which Johns's set design replicates elements of Duchamp's work '' The Large Glass'' (1915–23). Earlier, Johns also wrote
Neo-dada Neo-Dada was an art movement with audio, visual and literary manifestations that had similarities in method or intent with earlier Dada artwork. It sought to close the gap between art and daily life, and was a combination of playfulness, iconoclas ...
lyrics for The Druds, a short-lived
avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...
noise music Noise music is a genre of music that is characterised by the expressive use of noise. This type of music tends to challenge the distinction that is made in conventional musical practices between musical and non-musical sound. Noise music include ...
art band that featured prominent members of the New York proto- conceptual art and
minimal art Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or conc ...
community. The
National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...
, Washington, DC, owns
Chuck Close Charles Thomas Close (July 5, 1940 – August 19, 2021) was an American painter, visual artist, and photographer who made massive-scale photorealism, photorealist and abstract portraits of himself and others. Close also created photo portraits ...
's large-scale portrait of Johns. In the late 1960s Johns' work was published in 0 to 9 magazine, an avant-garde journal which experimented with language and meaning-making.


Commissions

In 1963, the architect
Philip Johnson Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect who designed modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the postmodern 550 ...
commissioned Johns to make a work for what is now the David H. Koch Theater at
Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5  ...
. ''Numbers'' (1964), a 9-by-7-foot grid of numerals, debuted in 1964 and, after presiding over the theater's lobby for 35 years, was supposed to be sold by the center for a reported $15 million in 1979. ''Numbers'' is historically important because it is the largest work of the artist's Numbers motif, and each of its Sculp-metal and collage units is on a separate canvas. Responding to widespread criticism, the board of Lincoln Center decided to drop its plans to sell the work, which was Johns's first and only public commission.


Style

Johns's work is sometimes grouped with
Neo-Dada Neo-Dada was an art movement with audio, visual and literary manifestations that had similarities in method or intent with earlier Dada artwork. It sought to close the gap between art and daily life, and was a combination of playfulness, iconoclas ...
and pop art: he uses symbols in the
Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...
tradition of the readymades of
Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, ; ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, Futurism and conceptual art. He is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Pica ...
, but unlike many pop artists such as
Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...
, he does not engage with celebrity culture. Other scholars and museums position Johns and Rauschenberg as predecessors of pop art.


Valuation and awards

In 1980 the
Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...
, New York, paid $1 million for ''Three Flags'' (1958), then the highest price ever paid for the work of a living artist. In 1988, Johns's ''False Start'' (1959) was sold at auction at Sotheby's to Samuel I. Newhouse Jr. for $17.05 million, setting a record at the time as the highest price paid for a work by a living artist at auction, and the second highest price paid for an artwork at auction in the U.S. In 1998, the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
, New York, bought Johns's ''
White Flag White flags have had different meanings throughout history and depending on the locale. Contemporary use The white flag is an internationally recognized protective sign of truce or ceasefire and for negotiation. It is also used to symboliz ...
'' (1955), the first painting by the artist to enter the Met's collection. While the museum would not disclose how much was paid, the ''New York Times'' reported that "experts estimate he painting'svalue at more than $20 million." In 2006, Johns's ''False Start'' (1959) again made history. Private collectors Anne and Kenneth Griffin (founder of the Chicago-based
hedge fund A hedge fund is a Pooling (resource management), pooled investment fund that holds Market liquidity, liquid assets and that makes use of complex trader (finance), trading and risk management techniques to aim to improve investment performance and ...
Citadel LLC Citadel LLC (formerly known as Citadel Investment Group, LLC) is an American multinational hedge fund and financial services company. Founded in 1990 by Kenneth Griffin, it has more than $65 billion in assets under management . The company has ...
) purchased the work from
David Geffen David Lawrence Geffen (born February 21, 1943) is an American film producer, record executive, and media proprietor. In music, he co-founded Asylum Records with Elliot Roberts in 1971 before founding Geffen Records in 1980, DGC Records in 1 ...
for $80 million, making it the most expensive painting by a living artist. In 2010, ''Flag'' (1958), was sold privately to hedge fund billionaire Steven A. Cohen for a reported $110 million (then £73 million; €81.7 million). The seller was Jean-Christophe Castelli, son of Leo Castelli, Johns's dealer, who had died in 1999. While the price was not disclosed by the parties, the ''New York Times'' reported that Cohen paid about $110 million. On November 11, 2014, a 1983 version of ''Flag'' was auctioned at Sotheby's in New York for $36 million, establishing a new auction record for Johns. Johns has received many awards throughout his career. The sole honorary degree he has accepted is Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, which the University of South Carolina conferred upon him in 1969. In 1984, he was elected a Fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
, Boston. In 1988, he received the highest honor at the 43rd Venice Biennale—the Golden Lion—for his exhibition in the United States pavilion. Johns was elected an Honorary Member of the
Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...
in 1989. In 1990, he was awarded the
National Medal of Arts The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and Patronage, patrons of the arts. A prestigious American honor, it is the highest honor given to artists and ar ...
. That year he was also elected an associate national academician of the
National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...
(now the National Academy Museum and School), rising to national academician in 1994. In 1993, he received the
Praemium Imperiale Prince Takamatsu The Praemium Imperiale () is an international art prize inaugurated in 1988 and awarded since 1989 by the Imperial family of Japan on behalf of the Japan Art Association in the fields of painting, sculpture, architecture, mu ...
for painting, a lifetime achievement award from the Japan Art Association. In 1994 he was awarded the
Edward MacDowell Medal The Edward MacDowell Medal is an award which has been given since 1960 to one person annually who has made an outstanding contribution to American culture and the arts. It is given by MacDowell, the first artist residency program in the United St ...
. He was elected to the
American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, Music of the United States, music, and Visual art of the United States, art. Its fixed number ...
in 1973 and the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
in 2007. On February 15, 2011, he received the
Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, alongside the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by decision of the president of the United States to "any person recommended to the President ...
from President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
, becoming the first painter or sculptor to receive a Presidential Medal of Freedom since
Alexander Calder Alexander "Sandy" Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobile (sculpture), mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, hi ...
in 1977. In 2007, the
National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...
acquired about 1,700 of Johns's prints. This made the gallery home to the largest number of Johns's works held by a single institution.


Selected work

* ''
Flag A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...
'' (1954–55
view
* ''
White Flag White flags have had different meanings throughout history and depending on the locale. Contemporary use The white flag is an internationally recognized protective sign of truce or ceasefire and for negotiation. It is also used to symboliz ...
'' (1955
view
* ''Target with Plaster Casts'' (1955
view
* ''Tango'' (1955) * ''Target with Four Faces'' (1955
view
* '' Three Flags'' (1958
view
* ''Numbers in Color'' (1958–59
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* ''Device Circle'' (1959
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* ''False Start'' (1959

* ''Coat Hanger'' (1960
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* ''Painting with Two Balls'' (1960
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* ''Painted Bronze'' (1960
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* ''Painting with Ruler and 'Gray (1960) * ''Painting Bitten by a Man'' (1961
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* ''The Critic Sees'' (1961
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* ''Target'' (1961
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* ''
Map A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a space. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on ...
'' (1961
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* ''Device'' (1961–62
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* ''Study for Skin I'' (1962

* ''Diver'' (1962–63
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* ''Periscope (Hart Crane)'' (1963

* ''Voice'' (1964/67
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* ''Untitled (Skull)'' (1973
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* ''Tantric Detail I, II, III'' (1980
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* ''Usuyuki'' (1981
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* ''Perilous Night'' (1982

* ''The Seasons'' (1987
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* ''Green Angel'' (1990
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* ''After Hans Holbein'' (1993

* ''Bridge'' (1997
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* ''Regrets'' (2013
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* '' Slice'' (2020
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In popular culture

* In " Mom and Pop Art", a 1999 episode of the animated television series ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...
'', Johns guest-stars as himself. He is depicted as a thief who steals everyday objects such as lightbulbs. * In '' The Diplomat'', a 2023
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
series, Johns' painting ''Flag'' is pictured hanging on the wall of the U.S. embassy in London (season 1, episodes 1 and 8).


References

;Notes ;Further reading * Basualdo, Carlos, and Scott Rothkopf. ''Jasper Johns: Mind/Mirror''. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art; Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2021. * Bernstein, Roberta. ''Jasper Johns' Paintings and Sculptures, 1954–1974: "The Changing Focus of the Eye."'' Studies in the Fine Arts: The Avant-Garde 46. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Research Press, 1985. * Bernstein, Roberta. ''Jasper Johns: Catalogue Raisonné of Painting and Sculpture''. 5 Volumes. New York: Wildenstein Plattner Institute, 2016. * Bernstein, Roberta. ''Jasper Johns: Redo an Eye''. New York: Wildenstein Plattner Institute, 2017. * Bernstein, Roberta, Edith Devaney, et al. ''Jasper Johns''. London: Royal Academy of Arts; Los Angeles, Broad, 2017. * Busch, Julia M. ''A Decade of Sculpture: The New Media in the 1960s''. Philadelphia: Art Alliance Press, 1974. * Castleman, Riva. ''Jasper Johns: A Print Retrospective''. New York: Museum of Modern Art 1986. * Crichton, Michael. ''Jasper Johns''. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1994. Revised and expanded edition of the 1977 Whitney Museum exhibition catalogue. * Dacherman, Susan, and Jennifer L. Roberts.''Jasper Johns: Catalogue Raisonné of Monotypes''. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2017. * Field, Richard. ''The Prints of Jasper Johns: 1960–1993; A Catalogue Raisonné''. West Islip, NY: Universal Limited Art Editions, 1994. * Hess, Barbara. ''Jasper Johns. The Business of the Eye''. Translated by John William Gabriel. Basic Art Series. Cologne: Taschen, 2007. * ''Jasper Johns: Catalogue Raisonné of Drawing''. 6 volumes. Houston: Menil Collection, 2018. * Kozloff, Max. ''Jasper Johns.'' Meridian Modern Artists Series. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1972. (out of print) * Krauss, Rosalind E. '"Split Decisions: Jasper Johns in Retrospect; Whole in Two." ''Artforum'', 35, no. 1 (September 1996): 78–85, 125
Findarticles.com
* Kuspit, Donald. "Jasper Johns: The Graying of Modernism." In ''Psychodrama: Modern Art as Group Therapy'', 417–425. London: Ziggurat, 2010. * Orton, Fred. ''Figuring Jasper Johns''. Essays in Art and Culture. London: Reaktion Books, 1994. * Rondeau, James, and Douglas Druick. ''Jasper Johns: Gray''. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago; New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007. * Rosenberg, Harold. "Jasper Johns: 'Things the Mind Already Knows'". ''Vogue'', February 1964, 174–77, 201, 203. * Shapiro, David. ''Jasper Johns Drawings, 1954–1984''. Edited by Christopher Sweet. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1984 (out of print). * Steinberg, Leo. ''Jasper Johns''. New York: George Wittenborn, 1963. Revised and expanded as "Jasper Johns: The First Seven Years of His Art." In ''Other Criteria: Confrontations with Twentieth-Century Art'', 17–54. New York: Oxford University Press, 1972. * Tomkins, Calvin. ''Off the Wall: Portrait of Robert Rauschenberg''. New York: Picador, 2005. * Varnedoe, Kirk, ed. ''Jasper Johns: Writings, Sketchbook Notes, Interviews''. Compiled by Christel Hollevoet. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1996. * Varnedoe, Kirk, Roberta Bernstein, and Lilian Tone. ''Jasper Johns: A Retrospective''. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1996. * Weiss, Jeffrey. ''Jasper Johns: An Allegory of Painting, 1955–1965''. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art; New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007. * Yau, John. ''A Thing Among Things: The Art of Jasper Johns''. New York: D.A.P./Distributed Art Publishers, 2008.


External links


Jasper Johns: An Allegory of Painting, 1955–1965, an exhibition at the US National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC


* ttp://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/john/hd_john.htm Jasper Johns (born 1930)Timeline of Art History , The Metropolitan Museum of Art *
Jasper Johns bio at artchive.com

PBS Jasper Johns 2008
* *
Powers Art Center - A Showcase of Jasper Johns's Works on Paper

Jasper Johns's ''Three Flags'' at Art Beyond Sight (Art Education for the Blind)

Review of the Whitney and the Philadelphia museums' 2021 shows
at '' Artnet News'', October 12, 2021
The Formulaic Juxtapositions of Jasper Johns's 'Mind/Mirror'
at ''Frieze'', November 12, 2021 {{DEFAULTSORT:Johns, Jasper Jasper Johns 1930 births Living people People from Augusta, Georgia People from Allendale, South Carolina 20th-century American painters American male painters 21st-century American painters 21st-century American male artists American pop artists Artists from New York (state) Artists from South Carolina University of South Carolina alumni Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences American gay artists American LGBTQ painters Gay painters Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters National Academy of Design members Parsons School of Design alumni American postmodern artists Recipients of the Praemium Imperiale United States National Medal of Arts recipients Wolf Prize in Arts laureates People from Stony Point, New York 20th-century American printmakers Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Honorary members of the Royal Academy Painters from Georgia (U.S. state) 20th-century American male artists Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people Members of the American Philosophical Society