JASPER JOHNS (B. 1930)
JASPER JOHNS (B. 1930)
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JASPER JOHNS (B. 1930)

Usuyuki

Details
JASPER JOHNS (B. 1930)
Johns, J.
Usuyuki
screenprint in colors, on Kurotani Kozo paper, 1980, signed and dated in pencil, inscribed 'Trial Proof 2/2' (a trial proof, the edition was 85 plus fifteen artist's proofs), co-published by the artist and Simca Print Artists, Inc., New York, 1981, with full margins, in generally very good condition, framed
Image: 27 ½ x 45 3/8 in. (699 x 1153 mm.)
Sheet: 29 3/8 x 47 ¼ in. (746 x 1200 mm.)
Literature
see Universal Limited Art Editions 216

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Lot Essay

The term Usuyuki in Japanese means "light snow" and is used when referring to something ephemeral or fleeting. It is also the title of a Kabuki (Japanese opera) love story which occurs in the cherry blossom season. Johns adopted the term when working on a group of works in the early 1980s which exhibit both the characteristics of snow's transience, as well as displaying a delicate feminine palette. Several of Johns' recurring devices can be traced in this work: his use of grids and repetitive crosshatching creates an underlying geometric structure; the use of layered opaque and translucent strips disrupts the surface and any visual anchor the eye tries to establish; and finally the juxtaposition of fragments to the whole each suggest a myriad of possible meanings.

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