Two Costumes [trial proof 7]
2000
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
color etching and aquatint on wove paper [trial proof]
Dimensions
plate: 55.56 x 13.34 cm (21 7/8 x 5 1/4 in.) sheet: 74.61 x 30.8 cm (29 3/8 x 12 1/8 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
2010.116.645
Art Historical Context
Jasper Johns, a pivotal figure in post-war American art, created *Two Costumes [trial 7]* in 2000, a color etching and aquatint wove paper. Measuring a compact plate size of 55.56 x 13.34 cm, this intimate print exemplifies Johns' late-career explorations, bridging his iconic motifs—like flags, targets, and numbers—with more abstract, layered imagery. As a trial proof (the seventh in the series), it offers a rare glimpse into the artist's meticulous process, where variations in color, ink, and pressure refine the final edition. Etching involves incising lines into a metal plate with acid for ...
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...