Cicada [working proof]
1981
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
color lithograph with crayon on Georges Duchêne Calcaire handmade paper [working proof]
Dimensions
image: 69.53 × 52.07 cm (27 3/8 × 20 1/2 in.) sheet: 76.52 × 56.52 cm (30 1/8 × 22 1/4 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Patrons' Permanent Fund and Special Friends of the National Gallery of Art
Accession Number
2010.116.659
Art Historical Context
Jasper Johns, a pivotal figure in post-World War II American art, bridges Pop Art and Neo-Dadaism with his iconic use of everyday symbols like flags and numbers. Created in 1981, *Cicada [working proof exemplifies his later explorations into organic forms and meticulous printmaking. This color lithograph, enhanced with crayon on luxurious Georges Duchêne Calcaire handmade paper, captures artist's fascination with natural motifs—the cicada, evoking themes of transformation and ephemerality. As a working proof, this piece offers a rare glimpse into Johns' process, where artists refine colors, l...
About the Artist
Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns (born May 15, 1930) is an American painter, sculptor, draftsman, and printmaker whose revolutionary work fundamentally transformed the trajectory of postwar American art. Emerging in the 1950s when Abstract Expressionism dominated the New York art world, Johns introduced a radically different approach by painting familiar, everyday symbols—flags, targets, numbers, and maps—that he des...