Lot Essay
According to the artist, Device Circle, painted in 1959, is his earliest work which examines the process of making a painting (Bernstein, p. 45). It is also the first work from a series of paintings which explore the possibilities of painting with the primary colors red, yellow and blue. (Bernstein pp. 142-143) Other well-known works from the series are False Start, Out the Window and Thermometer. The aesthetic qualities of this group are apparent in Device Circle's bold use of color, sculpted encaustic surface, fragmented newsprint collage, abbreviated brushstrokes and spontaneous drips. These attributes recall both a Cubist sensibility and the work of one of John's greatest influences, Paul Cézanne.
The circle has been an icon in Jasper Johns' oeuvre from the earliest target paintings through his most recent series of masterpieces The Seasons (1985-1986). From the period of 1959-1963, Johns repeated the image of Device Circle in a number of important works: Painting with Ruler and Gray (1960), Good Time Charley (1961), Device (1961-1962), Diver (1962) and Periscope (Hart Crane) (1963). Johns "first used an arm painted within a circle in 1963 to refer to the suicidal death of Hart Crane, and a very similar composition with a kind of clock hand is found in Device Circle." (Rosenthal, p. 94) The image of Device Circle relates to the clock as a symbol of change through time.
The words "DEVICE CIRCLE," painted at the lower edge of the canvas, are camouflaged in a brilliant field of color which becomes part of the composition. The painted wooden stick in the center of the canvas can be rotated to function as a compass retracing the subtle circle that divides the square. Device Circle is a painting of a device that can make a circle, while simultaneously functioning as an object that can recreate the process of making a circle. Like Johns' flags and targets, Device Circle creates a balance between the concepts of image and reality.
The circle has been an icon in Jasper Johns' oeuvre from the earliest target paintings through his most recent series of masterpieces The Seasons (1985-1986). From the period of 1959-1963, Johns repeated the image of Device Circle in a number of important works: Painting with Ruler and Gray (1960), Good Time Charley (1961), Device (1961-1962), Diver (1962) and Periscope (Hart Crane) (1963). Johns "first used an arm painted within a circle in 1963 to refer to the suicidal death of Hart Crane, and a very similar composition with a kind of clock hand is found in Device Circle." (Rosenthal, p. 94) The image of Device Circle relates to the clock as a symbol of change through time.
The words "DEVICE CIRCLE," painted at the lower edge of the canvas, are camouflaged in a brilliant field of color which becomes part of the composition. The painted wooden stick in the center of the canvas can be rotated to function as a compass retracing the subtle circle that divides the square. Device Circle is a painting of a device that can make a circle, while simultaneously functioning as an object that can recreate the process of making a circle. Like Johns' flags and targets, Device Circle creates a balance between the concepts of image and reality.