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Lot Essay
One of the most significant aspects of Jasper Johns' work is the act of repeating themes: returning time and again to the same subject as a means of discovering another, previously unknown, dimension. Flag I is a good example. Johns began making lithographs in 1960 when Tatyana Grosman, founder of ULAE, provided him with several lithographic stones and encouraged him to experiment with the medium.
After only a few months Johns had created several works including Flag I, the first state of three reworkings of the same stone. Drawn exclusively with tusche, the allover handling of the image focuses the viewer's attention to the deliberate, intentional mark making. The ensuing alterations, resulting in Flag II and Flag III, are concerned with filling in and scraping away the principal subject.
Johns appreciated and studied the natural relationship between painting and lithography and found it useful to exploit the qualities each medium could bring to a given subject. Indeed, though the first was created in oil, many of his subsequent Flag paintings use as a base their lithographic counterpart.
After only a few months Johns had created several works including Flag I, the first state of three reworkings of the same stone. Drawn exclusively with tusche, the allover handling of the image focuses the viewer's attention to the deliberate, intentional mark making. The ensuing alterations, resulting in Flag II and Flag III, are concerned with filling in and scraping away the principal subject.
Johns appreciated and studied the natural relationship between painting and lithography and found it useful to exploit the qualities each medium could bring to a given subject. Indeed, though the first was created in oil, many of his subsequent Flag paintings use as a base their lithographic counterpart.