Face [trial proof 9]
1976
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
lift-ground aquatint in gray on wove paper [trial proof]
Dimensions
plate: 27.8 × 21 cm (10 15/16 × 8 1/4 in.) sheet: 37.7 × 28 cm (14 13/16 × 11 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
2008.136.191
Art Historical Context
Jasper Johns's *Face [trial proof 9]*1976) is a captivating example of the artist's innovative printmaking from the mid-1970s. Known for bridging Pop Art and Abstract Expressionism through everyday motifs like flags and targets, Johns shifted toward fragmented imagery and self-referential forms during this period. This gray-toned work, part of his experimental *Face* series, evokes a haunting, abstracted visage—possibly drawn from photographs or personal sketches—rendered with subtle depth and mystery on wove paper. The medium, lift-ground aquatint, is a sophisticated intaglio technique that ...
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...