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National Gallery
4th and Constitution Avenue NW
202-737-4215
Washington
States and Variations: Prints by Jasper Johns
March 11-October 28

A 1969 portfolio of twelve prints, 1st Etchings, 2nd State, by renowned artist Jasper Johns (b. 1930) is the focus of States and Variations: Prints by Jasper Johns. The exhibition, which includes 63 works dating from 1960 — the year Johns first undertook printmaking — through 1982, highlights Johns' distinctive printmaking process. On view March 11 through October 28, 2007 in the National Gallery of Art, East Building, the exhibition complements Jasper Johns: An Allegory of Painting, 1955-1965.

States and Variations presents the artist's reexamination of six motifs depicted in the portfolio — Ale Cans, Paint Brushes, Flag, Light Bulb, Flashlight, and 0 through 9 (a configuration of superimposed numerals). These "found" objects that Johns has referred to as "things the mind already knows" are represented in lithography, etching, screenprint, monotype, and lead relief, which together reveal how changes in size, color, composition, and process alter the visual impact of each of the six motifs. The works on view are from the collection of the National Gallery of Art, with the addition of several important loans from the artist.

A master in many media, Johns is a printmaker of immense curiosity and skill. By the time he completed 1st Etchings, 2nd State in 1969 he had established his method of reexamining a body of motifs — in paintings, sculpture, drawings, and prints—a practice that is reflected throughout the exhibition. The first section of States and Variations includes early images of four of the portfolio motifs; the second section presents the entire 1st Etchings, 2nd State portfolio; and the third section displays works postdating the portfolio that incorporate its imagery.

On display in all three sections, further highlighting the role of theme and variation in Johns' art, are trial proofs for many of the editions, several of which are enhanced with Johns' extensive drawn additions. Documenting changes he made before achieving the final images, these proofs not only provide nuanced insight into Johns' artistic process, but also function as individual works of art.

Jasper Johns (born 1930), 1st Etchings, 2nd State: Flashlight, 1967/1969, Etching
and aquatint on Auvergne paper, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of the
Woodward Foundation, Washington, D.C., Art © Jasper Johns/Licensed by VAGA,
New York.

Jasper Johns, Decoy, detail, 1971, (no. 55).

The curator of the exhibition is Ruth Fine, curator of special projects in modern art, National Gallery of Art.

Born in Augusta, Georgia, Jasper Johns spent much of his childhood in South Carolina. He briefly attended the University of South Carolina but in 1949 moved to New York City, where he took classes at a commercial art school. Drafted into the Army, he was stationed in Japan. He had returned to New York by 1952. He initially supported himself by working in a bookstore and designing window displays with Robert Rauschenberg for prestigious Fifth Avenue stores such as Tiffany and Bonwit Teller.

Johns emerged as a notable artist in the 1950s in the wake of the intensely personal, gestural painting of the abstract expressionists. Early in his career he was credited with returning recognizable objects to the visual arts by presenting them in a cool, seemingly detached, and often enigmatic manner. Johns has almost always selected the raw material of his art from preexisting images, or what he has called "things the mind already knows." Early in his career, in the 1950s and 1960s, he chose widely familiar "things," such as numerals or shapes derived from commercial stencils, targets, American flags, and maps of the United States. His first solo show at the Leo Castelli Gallery, New York, in 1958 included paintings with these motifs and was an instant success. In the early 1980s Johns began using a number of images known more to his mind than the public's: personal possessions like ceramic pots, works of art, and pictures clipped from newspapers.

Johns' painting, sculpture, drawing, and printmaking are all closely related. He is interested in the play between an image and the medium, and frequently explores the same subjects using different techniques. Johns' methods of juxtaposing forms, his choice of materials, and his handling of color make his images function as signs that offer a range of possible meanings for each work.

Jasper Johns is widely celebrated as one of the most influential American artists of the postwar era. His work combines intellectual challenge with highly sensual handling of materials. Johns is also regarded as one of the greatest graphic artists of this century, and his lithographs, screenprints, and etchings have been exhibited widely.