But Jasper Johns prints in truly excellent condition are not so easy to locate, especially if the buyer is not versed in the intricacies of condition standards and peculiarities for prints and works on paper.
Jasper Johns has had a consistent International presence since the 50's when Alfred Barr, then director of The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), acquired four Jasper Johns Paintings for the MOMA Permanent Collection.
Each Jasper Johns painting in MOMA's collection has an important iconic theme; the four iconic Paintings:
- Flag, 1954-55, encaustic, oil, and collage on fabric mounted on plywood
- Green Target, 1955, encaustic on newspaper and cloth over canvas
- Target with Four Faces, 1955, encaustic on newspaper and cloth
- White Numbers, 1957, encaustic on canvas
The Artinfo primer establishes "the most valuable works are monumental paintings for Johns, who is basically an easel-scale painter."
"In the 1960s, Johns further developed some of the key themes he established in the ’50s, such as the Numerals, Flags, Alphabets and Targets. All of these, says Paulson, deal with counting, measurement and repetition."
Johns found a way to make the mundane beautiful and expensive! Three of his top 10 auction records are held by works dealing with Flags."
Curiously Jasper Johns stated "One night I dreamed that I painted a large American Flag," Johns said, "and the next morning I got up and I went out and bought the materials to begin it." Using the Flag, Johns said, "took care of a great deal for me because I didn't have to design it."
Few Jasper Johns unique works of art are offered at public auction, especially missing are the Artist's most important paintings which are in prestigious museums collections, including:
- The Museum of Modern Art, New York
- The Metropolitan Museum, New York
- Tate Gallery, London
- Whitney Museum of American Art
- The National Gallery, Washington, DC
- Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
In the latest round of contemporary New York auctions at Sotheby's, Christie's and Phillips, no unique Jasper Johns was offered at auction, not surprising, considering the artist has created fewer than 500 paintings.
While few unique Jasper Johns works appear for sale, art collectors with a good eye or the guidance of a professional art dealer can purchase Jasper Johns Prints with upside potential.
In May 09, Jasper Johns' iconic Simca Target color screenprint achieved $182,500., indicative of its importance and excellent condition.
Jasper Johns is an extraordinary printmaker who has created over 400 limited print editions exploring similar iconic themes the artist also explores in paintings and works on paper.
Creating a limited print edition is not an afterthought to Jasper Johns, as he does not create a print for the sake of just making money.
Richard Axsom "believes that the beauty and technical innovation evident in Johns’ prints, as well as their ambitious expressive content, puts Johns alongside Rembrandt Van Rijn, Francesco Goya, and Pablo Picasso as one of the greatest printmakers in the history of western art."
"According to Anthony Grant, Sotheby's, Jasper Johns’s Prints go for anywhere from $5,000 to $300,000 for Alphabets or Targets or some Map prints, and monotypes can be even more expensive. Sotheby’s has auctioned “Color Numeral” lithographs — 10 prints, from circa 1968, featuring the Numbers "0 through 9" — for as much as $770,000."
The article further states "though Johns’s auction history is illustrious, it consists of remarkably few sales, especially considering the length of his career. Paulson suggests that more material gets traded privately than on the block. Both the artist and Matthew Marks, she points out, "are very careful about how his works go into the world."
Those who have seen one of the many Jasper Johns museum exhibitions recognize the artist's importance.
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