Three Flags by Jasper Johns done in 19~, the artist painted 3 separate flags using what is known as encaustic which is the use of wax and pigment on canvas. He attached each of them to each other to create a 3 dimensional object. This form of art is known as pop art- using familiar imagery from everyday life. It was acquired by the Whitney Museum in New York City in 1980 for 1 million dollars. Meet the Artist: Jasper Johns He was born in 1930 in Augusta, Georgia, but grew up in South Carolina. He began drawing when he was 3 but had little exposure to art education. ~ vv~ Vt~ He moved to New York City when he was 19 and briefly studied at a well Uf known art school. He became friends with other prominent artists of the day and together they began developing their ideas on art concepts. He is best known for his "Flag," (1954-55) painting after he had a dream about a large American Flag. Many images in his art are recognizable symbols and familiar objects that stand on their own design that don't need interpretation or have a hidden meaning or emotion. He liked the simple design of objects like the American Flag, the alphabet, numbers or a map of the United States as these symbols are powerful on their own. He carefully chose the subject matter for his art based on its simplicity, symmetry, and basic patterns. His Flag series was what made him famous as an artist but he also worked with other mediums. Disscussion on Key Words: Repitition: Can someone explain repitition? When a pattern is repeated throughout the artwork. What is symmetry? When the object is placed to be proportional or balanced on either side of a center line. It also means that the same pattern is repeated exactly the same
Possible Questions: o Do you see repetition in both flags? Where? o Is it symmetrical-are parts arranged in the same basic way on both side? o How many stripes are on the US flag? (thirteen alternating white and red stripes) o There are 48 stars, but there are 50 stars on today's flag, why the difference? (Alaska and Hawaii were not states yet) o How are these lines the same? How are they different? o Compare the star(s) on each flag. Why does the US flag have 50? Does it remind you of anything? o Does it make you feel anything? o Do you like it? Why/Why not? o What makes the Jasper Johns picture different from a real American Flag?
Art Masterpiece ' "Three Flags" Today in Art Masterpiece, your child learned about Jasper Johns, an American Abstract Expressionist/Pop Painter and Sculptor. Jasper Johns was born in Allendale, South Carolina in 1930. He studied at the University of South Carolina and in 1952 went to New York to paint. "Be began painting familiar objects, but presented them in fresh visions--a flag of the United States, for example, or an archery target. Johns claimed that there was no symbolic reference in his work. Be also worked with motifs such as numbers, letters of the alphabet, and maps, increasingly with a richer quality of brushwork and pigment, and always with respect for the plane. John's fascination with the ordinary, commonplace objects of everyday culture is also found in a number of sculptures he made. In this, he.. was extending the tradition established by Marcel Duchamp, who was one of the first to break down the barrier between the world of high art and that of everyday objects and experience." "[Johns].. was an important agent in redirecting tbe course of American painting away from Abstract Expressionism into Pop Art." Critical regard for his work is indicated by an article in The New York limes 29 October 1998, reporting the sale of Johns's White Flag painting to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The Met's director refused to disclose the price, but experts estimate the value at more than $20 million. Speaking of his famous American Flag series, the artist said, "Using the design of the American flag took care of a great deal for me because I didn't have to design it, so I went on to similar things like the target--things the mind already knows. That gave me room to work on other levels. Ambiguity and paradox are central to Johns's vision: things are not necessarily what they seem. Abstract qualities--texture, colour, drawing--are emphasized in a representational painting;... " In other words, a piece of bread is not only a piece of bread or a reproduction of a piece of bread but also neither--a third object in its own right.