Curators at Work - College of William and Mary

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1 9 7 8 JAsPer Johns (American, b. 1930) Periscope, 1978-1981 Color sugar aquatint on rives buff mould paper, 35/88 sheet: 41 3/8 in. x 29 1/2 in.; Plate: 34 1/4 in. x 24 3/8 in. Purchase, Museum Acquisition Fund 1986.013 30 | Curators at Work
Jasper Johns is considered a forerunner of Pop Art. He is sometimes labeled a Neo-Dadaist for his use of newsprint and other ephemeral materials paired with subjects gleaned from popular American imagery, such as flags and targets. 1 Periscope by Jasper Johns, acquired by the Muscarelle Museum of Art in 1986, is a color sugar aquatint on Rives Buff Mould Paper, printed at the Petersburg Press, Inc. in 1981. Edition 35/88, it is 41 3/8 x 29 1/2 ins. (105.1 x 74.9 cm), while the plate dimensions are 1/4 x 24 3/8 ins. (87.0 x 61.9 cm). The abstract composition is dominated by three horizontal blocks of red, yellow and blue, overlaid with text. In the upper right, the artist’s handprint lies within a dark yellow semi-circle which breaks the red and yellow blocks. Scattered texts overlaying the three blocks, “red,” “yellow,” and “blue,” the three primaries misidentify the areas of color, although the blocks are largely discolored. He explored this composition in earlier works of the 1960s including Field Painting, Lands End, and Periscope (Hart Crane), all oil on canvas. These pieces, especially Periscope (Hart Crane), help explain the philosophy behind the museum’s aquatint. “Hart Crane” refers to the American modernist poet (1899-1932). Crane’s poetry focused on optimism despite his despairing personality. In one quatrain, he writes: “A periscope to glimpse what joys or pain Our eyes can share or answer—then deflects Us, shuting to a labyrinth submersed Where each sees only his dim past reversed…” 2 Crane committed suicide by jumping overboard from a ship in the Gulf of Mexico in 1932. 3 Critic Phillip Fisher states that the works use of color emphasizes: “These are paintings from the winter of the history of color. The great painting, Periscope (Hart Crane) of 1963 devotes its 3 vertical bands almost to the funeral of “RED,” then “YELLOW,” and finally, “BLUE.” A skeletal hand sweeps the paint into a semicircular target or eye, or dark entrance to a tube at the top right of the work. The words refer to what has been foregone. He has made of painting a practice that can be itself effaced, yet carried out triumphantly as an act of making and effacing art. The museum strategies are part of the melancholy of art.” 4 Johns has been influenced by existential philosophy. His work often expresses a deep skepticism regarding the authenticity of the concept of Art. Critic Rosalind Krauss referred to it as “Romantic Irony” “It is a type of irony often called Romantic, in that it expressed the deep skepticism of 19th century artists about the Classical canons of form, their sense that authenticity derived only from the speculative or imaginative act, and the inevitable fact that this was all transitory.” “With the emptiness of the notion of pictorial space there comes as well a radical leveling of the concept of genre—the variousness of pictorial types through which to express or embody that space.” 5 The text featured in the composition, the phrase yellow, is boldly stamped in a dark navy on a ground of blue, calling attention to the blatant lie told on the canvas. The hand print, slapped onto the spreading circle is a signature frequently used by Johns. Its prominence within the invasive circle perhaps alludes to the struggle and desperation felt by both Crane and Johns in their pursuit of artistic truth. 1 Anthony Mason, A History of Western Art: From Prehistory to the Twentieth Century, ed. John Spike (Florence: McRae Books, 2007), 120. 2 Richard Francis, Jasper Johns, Modern Masters (New York: Abbeville Press, 1984), 54. 3 Poetryfoundation.org 4 Philip Fisher, “Jasper Johns: Strategies for Making and Effacing Art,” Critical Inquiry, Vol. 16, no. 2. 1990 5 Rosalind Krauss, “Jasper Johns: The function of Irony,” October Vol. 2, (1976): 92 Caitlin Fairchild ‘11 16 Memoranda for 16 Artists | 31
Page 1 and 2: Curators at Work 16 Memoranda for t
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Page 6 and 7: 1 8 0 5 Attributed to Gilles-louis
Page 8 and 9: 1 8 9 3 henri-eDMonD DelACroix, cal
Page 10 and 11: 1 9 0 9 Arthur B. DAvies (American,
Page 12 and 13: 1 9 2 3 Attilio PiCCirilli (America
Page 14 and 15: 1 9 2 9 BlAnChe lAzzell (American,
Page 16 and 17: 1 9 3 7 thoMAs hArt Benton (America
Page 18 and 19: 1 9 4 5 MAx WeBer (American, 1881-1
Page 20 and 21: 1 9 5 3 MArino MArini (italian, 190
Page 22 and 23: 1 9 6 4 MAn rAY (American, 1890-197
Page 24 and 25: 1 9 6 9 PABlo PiCAsso (spanish, 188
Page 26 and 27: 1 9 7 2 ClAes olDenBurG (American,
Page 28 and 29: 1 9 7 4 JiM Dine (American, b. 1935
Page 32 and 33: 1 9 8 8 DonAlD K. sultAn (American,
Page 34 and 35: 1 9 8 8 WAYne thieBAuD (American, b
Page 36 and 37: 2 0 0 3 JAune QuiCK-to-see sMith (n
Page 38 and 39: 2 0 0 3 JAune QuiCK-to-see sMith (n

Curators at Work - College of William and Mary

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