Jasper Johns: A Print Retrospective

Hardback book with dust jacket titled JASPER JOHN: A Print Retrospective by Riva Castleman. Published by Museum of Modern Art in 1986 - Review Copy. With 43 color and 63 black and white illustrations. See my photographs (6) of this book on main listing page. Bookseller since 1995 (LL-Base2-E-top) rareviewbooks

This fine exhibition catalog goes far toward providing an understandable explication of Johns's complex graphic techniques and difficult imagery. Johns began printmaking in 1960 and has since become one of the absolute masters of the 20th-century print. Many of his prints replicate his paintings as he experiments with the potentials and insights that another medium provides through new techniques and textures. Below Castleman's text run thought-provoking excerpts from interviews with Johns and from his writings. The color illustrations are good, although the subtleties of texture are nearly impossible to convey, and the black-and white illustrations are a bit muddy. Recommended for all collections of contemporary or graphic art. Lynell A. Morr, John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art Lib., Sarasota, Fla.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.