Jasper Johns

Q: What is Jasper Johns best known for?

Johns is best known for paintings of American flags, targets, numbers, and maps. His 1954-55 Flag is considered one of the most important American paintings of the 20th century, blurring the line between object and image.

Q: Where can I see Jasper Johns' work?

MoMA in New York holds key works including Flag. The Whitney Museum, the National Gallery of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago also have major pieces.

Q: What movement is Jasper Johns associated with?

Johns is associated with Neo-Dada and is considered a precursor to Pop Art. His use of commonplace imagery paved the way for Warhol and Lichtenstein, though his work is more meditative and layered.

Pop Art

American·b. 1930

Jasper Johns

American

b. 1930

Jasper Johns (born 1930) is an American painter and sculptor whose work with flags, targets, numbers, and maps helped bridge Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art. Born in Augusta, Georgia, he moved to New York in the 1950s and became part of the downtown scene alongside Robert Rauschenberg and John Cage.

His 1954-55 painting Flag transformed a familiar symbol into a question about seeing and meaning. Is it a painting of a flag, or is it a flag? That question challenged the assumptions of both abstraction and representation. Johns' work reportedly changed hands privately for over $100 million. Our collection includes 3 works at MoMA.

Notable Works by Jasper Johns

3 paintings catalogued with museum locations

F© CopyrightedImage cannot be shown

Flag

Jasper Johns, 1958

Private Collection, Unknown

T© CopyrightedImage cannot be shown

Three Flags

Jasper Johns, 1958

Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York

Museums with Jasper Johns's Work

2 museums display Johns's works. Click any museum to see visiting info and the specific works they hold.

Private Collection

Unknown, Unknown

2 works on display

Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

New York, USA

1 work on display

About Jasper Johns

Johns is best known for paintings of American flags, targets, numbers, and maps. His 1954-55 Flag is considered one of the most important American paintings of the 20th century, blurring the line between object and image.

MoMA in New York holds key works including Flag. The Whitney Museum, the National Gallery of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago also have major pieces.

Johns is associated with Neo-Dada and is considered a precursor to Pop Art. His use of commonplace imagery paved the way for Warhol and Lichtenstein, though his work is more meditative and layered.

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