

![Two Maps I [trial proof: white overprinted with black, unused] by Jasper Johns](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0833/9292/1935/files/artwork-jasper-johns-two-maps-i-trial-proof-white-overprinted-with-black-unused_f88a8822-78ea-425f-a7cc-081476394aa4.jpg?width=480)
![Gray Alphabets [color trial proof 5D - 1st, 3rd, 4th plates] by Jasper Johns](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0833/9292/1935/files/artwork-jasper-johns-gray-alphabets-color-trial-proof-5d-1st-3rd-4th-plates.jpg?width=480)








About Jasper Johns
Painted the American flag and spent seventy years asking whether it was a painting of a flag or a flag that was a painting.

Where to see Jasper Johns
Ranked by works you can see in person.
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1 works
National Gallery of Art
Washington, D.C., United States
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12 works
Museum of Modern Art
Midtown Manhattan, United States
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11 works
Museum Ludwig
Gebäudekomplex der Kölner Philharmonie und des Museum Ludwig, Germany
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9 works
Whitney Museum of American Art
Manhattan, United States
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5 works
Wallraf–Richartz Museum
Ungersbau, Germany
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5 works
Art Institute of Chicago
Chicago, United States
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4 works
Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York City, United States
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3 works
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Houston, United States
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2 works
Seattle Art Museum
Seattle, United States
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2 works
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
Bentonville, United States
View all 28 museums
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2 works
Paul G. Allen Collection
Seattle, United States
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2 works
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
San Francisco, United States
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2 works
Yale University Art Gallery
Yale University Art Gallery Swartwout Building, United States
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2 works
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia, United States
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2 works
Tate
Tate Britain, United Kingdom
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2 works
Cleveland Museum of Art
Wade Park, United States
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1 works
Musée National d'Art Moderne
Centre Pompidou-Metz, France
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1 works
Buffalo AKG Art Museum
Buffalo, United States
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1 works
Bavarian State Painting Collections
Munich, Germany
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1 works
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Richmond, United States
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1 works
Princeton Art Museum
Princeton, United States
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1 works
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
Amsterdam, Netherlands
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1 works
Dallas Museum of Art
Dallas, United States
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1 works
Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art
District 6, Iran
Also here (6)
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0 works
Israel Museum
Jerusalem, Israel
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0 works
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Old Patent Office Building, United States
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0 works
collection of the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal
Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, Canada
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0 works
Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst
Citadelpark, Belgium
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I see Jasper Johns's work?
Jasper Johns's works appear in many prominent collections. In New York City, you can find his pieces at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Museum of Modern Art. His art is also held in the collection of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Outside of New York, several institutions house his works, such as the National Gallery of Art and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Other locations include the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Seattle Art Museum, and the Art Institute of Chicago. Internationally, Johns's art can be seen at the Tate Gallery in London and the Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre National d'Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou, in Paris. These museums have all featured Johns's pieces in either temporary exhibitions or as part of their permanent collections.What should I know about Jasper Johns's prints?
Jasper Johns began making prints in the late 1950s. His first lithograph, *Target*, was printed and published by Universal Limited Art Editions (ULAE). Printmaking has been an important medium for Johns. In 1971, his *Decoy* became the first print made using ULAE's offset press. Interestingly, the image was explored as a print before he created a painting of it. Johns has worked at several major printmaking workshops. These include ULAE; Graphicstudio, at the University of South Florida; and Gemini GEL. Such workshops are collaborative environments. They require a range of equipment, materials, technical knowledge and skills. Print publishers are at the forefront of artistic practice because of this. Workshops can be publishing workshops (where prints are supported and created) or job shops (where printers work for publishers who finance projects). Each workshop has a distinctive character based on the priorities of its founder.Why are Jasper Johns's works important today?
Jasper Johns is a significant figure in post-war American art. Born in Georgia in 1930, he is recognised for artworks depicting commonplace objects, such as the American flag, targets, beer cans, and Coca-Cola bottles. His work blends ordinary objects with painterly techniques; this dissolves boundaries between fine art and mass culture. Johns is often described as a Neo-Dadaist, a Conceptualist, and a Minimalist. His techniques incorporate a sense of spontaneity, reminiscent of Abstract Expressionism, although his process was closely planned. His 1958 show at the Leo Castelli Gallery, featuring paintings of targets and American flags, brought him immediate fame. That same year, the Museum of Modern Art reserved three of his paintings. Johns's work was seen as an influence on Pop Art in the early 1960s. He had an intense relationship with Robert Rauschenberg, who introduced him to composer John Cage and choreographer Merce Cunningham; all four influenced the direction of post-war avant-garde art and American culture. His later work shows the influence of Pablo Picasso.Who was Jasper Johns lover?
Robert Rauschenberg was Jasper Johns's partner and closest artistic collaborator. The biography does not mention that they were lovers.What techniques or materials did Jasper Johns use?
Jasper Johns, born in 1930, employs a range of techniques and materials in his art. Early in his career, he favoured encaustic, an ancient medium using wax rather than oil to bind pigment. Johns mixed pigment with molten beeswax or resin, sometimes adding fragments of newspaper and fabric. He applied the mixture and dried it under radiant heat, fusing the elements. Encaustic dries quickly, allowing for the addition of layers. It also offers a degree of translucency, revealing stages of the work and collage elements embedded within the medium. As a glutinous medium, encaustic is best applied with a palette knife, enabling heavy impastos. By 1959, Johns increasingly used oils, corresponding to a more sustained use of pure colour. In 1958, he began working with Sculp-metal and, in 1960, started making cast-bronze sculptures and exploring printmaking. In the 1960s and 1970s, he became interested in screen printing, attracted by the large print runs and layering of saturated colours it offered. Johns also incorporated actual three-dimensional forms into some paintings, such as a ball, a book, or a stretcher.Who did Jasper Johns influence?
Jasper Johns is considered a major figure in post-war American art. His work influenced the direction of American culture and the avant-garde. Johns's paintings and sculptures often depicted commonplace objects; American flags, targets, beer cans, and Coca-Cola bottles are some examples. His approach dissolved the boundaries between fine art and mass culture. Some critics call him a Neo-Dadaist, a Conceptualist, and a Minimalist. His techniques incorporated the sense of spontaneity of Abstract Expressionism, even though his works were closely planned. Johns's work, along with that of Robert Rauschenberg, is considered an important influence on American Pop Art. According to the critic Max Kozloff, Johns reduced flags and targets to abstract forms, which then ceased to function socially. This insight, he argued, gave momentum to Pop art. Johns's fusion of subject and object also had effects on art, especially American art, in the 1960s.Who influenced Jasper Johns?
Jasper Johns (born 1930) developed his style through an engagement with earlier figures. Art historians often cite Marcel Duchamp as an important influence. Johns encountered Duchamp's work in New York galleries. Duchamp's readymades and his ironic attitude towards the art world offered Johns a way to break with Abstract Expressionism. Another important figure is Kurt Schwitters. Schwitters's collages and use of everyday materials resonated with Johns's own artistic interests. Johns collected Schwitters's catalogues. He owned a work by Schwitters. Johns was also interested in the composer John Cage's ideas about chance and indeterminacy. Cage's experimental approach to music influenced Johns's use of unconventional materials and techniques. These figures helped Johns develop his distinctive style, characterised by the use of common objects and symbols, such as flags, targets, and numbers. His work bridges the gap between Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art.What is Jasper Johns's most famous work?
Jasper Johns is most recognised for his paintings of the American flag. He began this subject in 1954-55. These flag paintings are among his most famous and influential works. "Flag" (1954-55) is perhaps his single most well-known piece. It is made with encaustic, oil, and collage on fabric mounted on plywood. Encaustic is a wax-based paint that creates a textured surface. The work is part of the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Johns has returned to the flag image repeatedly throughout his career. These later works explore different techniques and meanings. Some use variations in colour, while others incorporate abstract elements. The flags are not always straightforward patriotic symbols. They often invite viewers to consider the nature of representation and perception. By depicting such a familiar object, Johns prompts questions about how we see and interpret the world around us. His flag paintings remain central to discussions of modern art.
Sources
Where to See guide aggregates verified holdings of Jasper Johns's works across the following collections.
- [1] museum Buffalo AKG Art Museum Used for: museum holdings.
- [2] museum Museum Ludwig Used for: museum holdings.
- [3] museum Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam Used for: museum holdings.
- [4] museum Cleveland Museum of Art Used for: museum holdings.
- [5] museum Wallraf–Richartz Museum Used for: museum holdings.
- [6] museum Princeton Art Museum Used for: museum holdings.
- [7] book Jed Perl, Art in America 1945-1970 Used for: biography.
- [8] book guggenheim-popicons00gugg Used for: biography.
Editorial overseen by Solis Prints. Sources verified 2026-06-28. Click a source for details, or hover over [N] in the page above to preview.
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