Two Costumes [trial proof]
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: 54.93 x 13.02 cm (21 5/8 x 5 1/8 in.) sheet: 77.15 x 29.21 cm (30 3/8 x 11 1/2 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
2010.116.655
Art Historical Context
Jasper Johns, a pivotal figure in American postwar art, created *Two Costumes [trial]* in 2000, late in his illustrious career. Renowned for bridging Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, and Conceptualism through everyday motifs like flags and targets, Johns here explores printmaking with color etching and aquatint wove paper. This proof—an experimental impression pulled before the final edition—offers a rare glimpse into his process, where he refined colors, tones, and compositions. Measuring a modest plate size of 21⅝ × 5⅛ inches on a larger 30⅜ × 11½-inch sheet, its intimate scale invites close...
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...