But he has consistently eschewed any effort to articulate meaning. As one of the world’s most successful painters (more of his work has sold than most other artists) Johns had plenty of opportunity to explain what he meant by painting flags, and targets, and numbers, and letters. As an artist, he was always seeking meaning – the practice of making art is a lifetime exercise of intention. Johns is famous for not explaining his work. Jasper Johns “Target” (1961) Fifth: Johns never explained what his paintings meant. It’s a pressing conversation for right now, and parents are the front line of teaching basic civics to the next generation. Many feel that the very state of our union is under threat right now because of the current President’s actions, and revelations about how the Russians tampered with our elections. Kids need to understand these topics so they grow up to participate in our democracy. Voting, representation, the union itself. What are the values we attach to it? How does a President represent the flag? What does is mean to each child? Importantly, talk about what a democracy is. Take a moment, in the first gallery with an array of Johns’ amazing flag paintings, to think about what the flag stands for. We’ve just enjoyed a three day weekend in honor of President’s Day holiday. Seven of his paintings are in the list of the top 1000 most expensive painting sales of all time.įourth: Have a conversation about the flag (and democracy). If your kids find the dollars and cents interesting, tell them that a Jasper Johns painting sold for $343 Million dollars in 2014. Near the end of the film, you can see a painting sell at auction for 7 million dollars. If you’re curious about Johns’ life and the evolution of his work, this is a pretty concise lesson. Here is a 50 minute PBS documentary about Johns, from American Masters, which was made in 1989 with interviews with Johns and his friends and shots of him working. Why not have them look at the dates of the paintings and make a time line that zig-zags through the show? So is the notion that you can see work from all those years of practice in this exhibition. Kids might have a good time thinking about someone who knew what they wanted to do, and did it, for a lifetime. It was the band of brothers that he met in New York City – Robert Rauschenberg, John Cage, and Merce Cunningham – who were his greatest teachers. Johns wanted to be a painter since he was in kindergarten, and was pretty much self-taught. Gradually, his work inspired others, and was a catalyst that ushered in the next era of Pop and Conceptual Art. He absorbed their work and chose a different path, making gradual steps forward in his own practice. His work was less emotional or spontaneous than those of the Abstract Expressionist painters. Jasper Johns is significant in art history because he represents the end of the Abstract Expressionist movement and the start of a new era of painting, one in which the painting itself is the thing. Credit Andrew White for The New York Times Third: Johns is 87 and probably our most important living American artist. Johns in his studio reserved for print-making with a wide selection of rulers. The paintings are deceptively simple, but you’ll quickly get familiar with the subject matter and will find yourself focused on the rhythm of the brushstrokes. Seeing so many of Johns’ paintings together for this retrospective allows viewers to study this idea of how the master puts paint on the canvas. (Or taking photos of the paintings, which inevitably happens like crazy at a blockbuster show like this – makes me long for the days before cellphones, when we went to the gift store after an exhibit and chose one or two images that we liked best to remember the experience). Spend some time standing close enough to appreciate the energy and precision of each brushstroke - of course, this is what is unique about seeing the work in person and something that you can’t do as well if you’re looking at a postcard of the work, or studying it in school. In fact, his willingness to paint the same thing over and over was a way to become a better painter. Johns cared about the process of painting and printmaking – he obsessed over it. So put away your camera and get as close as the guards will allow. Seeing different renditions of the same subject matter explored from canvas to canvas produces a sense of contemplation, ultimately. And then, the questions will begin: Why does he paint the same thing, over and over? Why the flag, why the targets, and why the letters and numbers? Important questions for adults and kids alike. Kids will be engaged and curious because the items in the paintings are familiar.
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