Untitled [trial proof]
1997 (published 1998)
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
etching in black and white on three sheets of adhered brown wove paper [trial proof]
Dimensions
plate (left): 85.41 × 61.6 cm (33 5/8 × 24 1/4 in.) plate (center): 85.41 × 60.33 cm (33 5/8 × 23 3/4 in.) plate (right): 85.41 × 61.6 cm (33 5/8 × 24 1/4 in.) sheet (overall): 102.55 × 196.53 cm (40 3/8 × 77 3/8 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
2010.116.521
Art Historical Context
Jasper Johns, a towering figure in 20th-century American art, revolutionized painting and printmaking by blending everyday symbols—like flags and targets—with abstract techniques, bridging Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art. This *Untitled [trial proof] created in 1997 and published 1998, exemplifies late-career experimentation in print media. As a black-and-white etching on three adhered sheets of brown wove, it showcases Johns' mastery of intaglio processes, where acid bites into metal plates to create intricate lines and textures that emerge dramatically against the warm, toned paper. Tria...
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...