Untitled [Secondaries with Primaries] [trial proof]
1991
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
color etching and aquatint on handmade paper [trial proof]
Dimensions
plate (left): 86.68 × 61.6 cm (34 1/8 × 24 1/4 in.) plate (center): 86.68 × 61.6 cm (34 1/8 × 24 1/4 in.) plate (right): 86.68 × 61.6 cm (34 1/8 × 24 1/4 in.) sheet: 106.68 × 197.8 cm (42 × 77 7/8 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
2010.116.5
Art Historical Context
Jasper Johns, a pivotal figure in postwar American art, bridges Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art his iconic motifs of flags, targets, and numbers. Created in 1991, *Untitled [Secondaries with Primaries] [trial proof]* exemplifies his late-career fascination with color theory and perception. This expansive color etching and aquatint, printed on luxurious handmade paper, unfolds across three identical plates—each measuring 34⅛ × 24¼ inches—arranged side by side on a grand 42 × 77⅞-inch sheet, evoking a triptych format that invites viewers to contemplate relationships between primary colors (re...
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...