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Photo Denis Piel
Jasper Johns
Artist / Painter

Jasper Johns was an artist that came onto the scene in the 1950s. Much of the work that he created led the American public away from the expressionism form, and towards an art movement or form known as the concrete. He would depict many flags and maps, and this created a more distinct style with the work that was being done during this period in American art history. He was also one of the leading forces to the pop form known as minimalism; even to this day.

Upon moving to New York, Jasper Johns met artists, which led him down the road of wanting to work in this career field even more. John Cage, Merce Cunningham, and Robert Rauschenberg, were some of the early influences he met in New York. A visit to Pennsylvania, to view Duchamp’s The Large Glass, created an intrigue in his work for Johns. Duchamp had changed the art world with the “readymades” (a series of found objects, painted as finished works). His distinct work and style played a role in Jasper Johns’s interest in art, and the style he would eventually follow.

As the art world was searching for new ideas, outside the purely abstract style, the early paintings of maps and flags which Jasper Johns created, took in both praise and ridicule by certain critics in the art world. The early works he created, had a sense of craft work, and a small expression of the extra-ordinary and absurd. The process to create the images, were the meanings were found. Much of the work Jasper Johns created, was extremely new to the museum goers and art lovers, as the simple form of designing flags, and large numbers in print, was something which was never seen before. The distinct style, and the simplicity behind it, eventually captured the interest of museum goers.

In 1958, Leo Castelli visited the museum of Rauschenberg, and this was the first time he had seen any of the work created by Jasper Johns. He was impressed with the creativity, and simplicity behind the work, and offered the 28 year old, a spot for his own exhibit, upon first viewing the pieces which Jasper Johns had created. During the first exhibition, the Museum of Modern Art purchased three of the pieces that were on display, which proved that the simple format, and style, were going to make Jasper Johns a force in the art world. Nearly 30 years after this date, some of the pieces that Johns had created, were sold for a higher price tag than ever, for a living artist’s work.

Some of the people Jasper Johns regularly collaborated with included: Andy Warhol, Robert Morris, and Bruce Naumann. In 1967, he met Frank O’Hara, and was invited to do the illustrations and art work for the book In Memory of My Feelings. In the 1970s, Jasper Johns met Samuel Beckett, who requested that he would design the art work for his written piece, Fizzles. This was the beginning of a change in the work that Johns would create during this time period, which showcased a more monotone, and simple art form that he was working on.

Together with Rauschenberg and several Abstract Expressionist painters of the previous generation, Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Barnett Newman, Johns is one of most significant and influential American painters of the twentieth century. He also ranks with Durer, Rembrandt, Goya, Edvard Munch, and Picasso as one of the greatest printmakers of any era. In addition, he makes many drawings – unique works on paper, usually based on a painting he has previously painted – and he has created an unusual body of sculptural objects.

To be an artist you have to give up everything, including the desire to be a good artist. –Jasper Johns

Jasper Johns
Artist / Painter

Jasper Johns was an artist that came onto the scene in the 1950s. Much of the work that he created led the American public away from the expressionism form, and towards an art movement or form known as the concrete. He would depict many flags and maps, and this created a more distinct style with the work that was being done during this period in American art history. He was also one of the leading forces to the pop form known as minimalism; even to this day.

Upon moving to New York, Jasper Johns met artists, which led him down the road of wanting to work in this career field even more. John Cage, Merce Cunningham, and Robert Rauschenberg, were some of the early influences he met in New York. A visit to Pennsylvania, to view Duchamp’s The Large Glass, created an intrigue in his work for Johns. Duchamp had changed the art world with the “readymades” (a series of found objects, painted as finished works). His distinct work and style played a role in Jasper Johns’s interest in art, and the style he would eventually follow.

As the art world was searching for new ideas, outside the purely abstract style, the early paintings of maps and flags which Jasper Johns created, took in both praise and ridicule by certain critics in the art world. The early works he created, had a sense of craft work, and a small expression of the extra-ordinary and absurd. The process to create the images, were the meanings were found. Much of the work Jasper Johns created, was extremely new to the museum goers and art lovers, as the simple form of designing flags, and large numbers in print, was something which was never seen before. The distinct style, and the simplicity behind it, eventually captured the interest of museum goers.

In 1958, Leo Castelli visited the museum of Rauschenberg, and this was the first time he had seen any of the work created by Jasper Johns. He was impressed with the creativity, and simplicity behind the work, and offered the 28 year old, a spot for his own exhibit, upon first viewing the pieces which Jasper Johns had created. During the first exhibition, the Museum of Modern Art purchased three of the pieces that were on display, which proved that the simple format, and style, were going to make Jasper Johns a force in the art world. Nearly 30 years after this date, some of the pieces that Johns had created, were sold for a higher price tag than ever, for a living artist’s work.

Some of the people Jasper Johns regularly collaborated with included: Andy Warhol, Robert Morris, and Bruce Naumann. In 1967, he met Frank O’Hara, and was invited to do the illustrations and art work for the book In Memory of My Feelings. In the 1970s, Jasper Johns met Samuel Beckett, who requested that he would design the art work for his written piece, Fizzles. This was the beginning of a change in the work that Johns would create during this time period, which showcased a more monotone, and simple art form that he was working on.

Together with Rauschenberg and several Abstract Expressionist painters of the previous generation, Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Barnett Newman, Johns is one of most significant and influential American painters of the twentieth century. He also ranks with Durer, Rembrandt, Goya, Edvard Munch, and Picasso as one of the greatest printmakers of any era. In addition, he makes many drawings – unique works on paper, usually based on a painting he has previously painted – and he has created an unusual body of sculptural objects.

To be an artist you have to give up everything, including the desire to be a good artist. –Jasper Johns

RELATED ARTICLES
Our 5th Year Anniversary
ARTPIL / Prescription .132
We are rounding out our fifth year with nearly 3 million visits strong. A very exciting journey it has been, indeed.
+
Jasper Johns: Mind/Mirror
Sep 29, 2021 – Feb 13, 2022
Johns's groundbreaking work sent shock waves through the art world when it was first shown in the late 1950s, and...
+
American Art 1961–2001
Walker Art Center Collections
The exhibition brings together an outstanding selection of over 80 works by 53 artists exhibited in Florence through a...
+
An Art of Changes: Jasper Johns
Feb 16 – Sep 20, 2020
This exhibition surveys six decades of the artist's practice in printmaking, highlighting his experiments with familiar, abstract, and personal...
+
FIAC 2019
October 17–20, 2019
The 46th Edition of FIAC will host a carefully curated selection of galleries of modern and contemporary art, together...
+
Becoming American
Aug 4 – Sep 30, 2018
It is exactly the uneasy imaginary of becoming American that novelist and essayist James Baldwin took up in his...
+
A Tale of Two Worlds
Jul 13 – Oct 14, 2018
A landmark event, this exhibition places masterpieces from the MMK Frankfurt collection in a deep and meaningful dialogue with...
+
Something Resembling Truth / Jasper Johns
Feb 10 – May 13, 2018
Organized with the Royal Academy in London, this exhibit with loans from numerous collections features over 120 of Jasper...
+
Being Modern: MoMA in Paris
Oct 11, 2017 – Mar 5, 2018
The Museum of Modern Art and Fondation Louis Vuitton announce the first exhibition in France to present MoMA's unparalleled...
+
Visions of the Other America
Independence Day
America has always been considered as something of a contradiction. With eyes now already towards the midterms and the...
+