Focus: Jasper Johns

To celebrate the acquisition of a new series of works on paper by Jasper Johns (American, b. 1930), a selection of his paintings, drawings, and prints, all from the Museum's collection, will be on view in the Prints and Illustrated Books Galleries. The untitled series from 2001 is based on Johns's "Catenary" theme, named for the curve formed by a cord hanging between two fixed points. In these thirteen compositions, Johns utilized acrylic, collage, watercolor, and gouache, over aquatint and etching, to layer various motifs and reveal new meanings. The series constitutes a highly illuminating display of the artist's creative process and will be seen in the context of other works, in a variety of mediums, which demonstrate Johns's longstanding practice of reinvestigating a repertoire of images, including flags, numerals, cross-hatchings, body parts, and studies of the four seasons.

Organized by Deborah Wye, The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Chief Curator for Prints and Illustrated Books, The Museum of Modern Art.

Focus: Jasper Johns
Kurator: Deborah Wye