The artist Jasper Johns.
Jasper Johns is an American artist who is given credit for paving the way for such artistic categories as minimalism and pop art. Johns used simple objects like maps, flags and targets to cultivate a polarizing following in the American art scene, a following that made him well-known, and, eventually, well off financially. Robert Storr of Yale University recently told the New York Times that John is "one of the most important artists of his generation."
Youth
Johns was born in Augusta, Georgia, in 1930, but grew up in Allendale, South Carolina. Johns at one time told PBS that he was always interested in art, but his small town didn't provide him outlets to either view art or interact with other artists. While he did attend the University of South Carolina for a brief time, Johns eventually pulled up stakes and went to New York City.
Getting Into the Scene
One of Johns' first jobs in New York City was at Tiffany's, where he created window displays with another young would-be artist, Robert Rauschenberg. The pair explored the NYC art scene together, and on a trip to Philadelphia Johns viewed Marcel Duchamp's painting, "The Large Glass." In it, Duchamp used ready-made objects and presented them as art. The painting had an influence on Johns' later work.
Early Work
Johns began producing paintings of flags and numbers, a subject matter that left some art goers unimpressed. The work looked serious, but the subject matter itself wasn't. Johns later said that he was partially inspired by Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, who wrote about the construction and breakdown of logic. Johns would say that he was trying to, in his own way, understand logic.
The Benefactor
Leo Castelli became the man that would bring Johns' work to the masses. Castelli, a gallery owner, visited Rauschenberg's studio in 1958, where Johns was also working, and became enamored with Johns' work. Castelli arranged for a showing at the Museum of Modern Art and Johns sold three paintings to the MoMA during that showing. From there, Johns was a player in the NYC art scene.
Branching Out
Soon after, Johns began working in printmaking, and his innovations in such areas as screen printing, lithography and etching are well recognized. In the 1960s, he introduced sculptural items into his paintings, starting with simple objects like paint brushes and eventually graduating to collages with more complex objects. At the same time, he collaborated with some of art's leading minds, such as Andy Warhol, Robert Morris and Bruce Naumann. He also illustrated books for poet Frank O'Hara and author Samuel Beckett.
The Money Man
Johns is recognized for selling more art that any living artist. According to the New York Times, the Whitney Museum of American Art bought Johns' "Three Flags" for $1 million in 1980, considered the highest price ever paid for the work of a living artist at the time. "False Start," painted in 1959, brought $17 million at an auction at Sotheby's in 1988. Johns took the title again in 2006 when David Geffen, a Hollywood producer, sold "False Start" to Chicago businessman Kenneth C. Griffin for a record $80 million.
