Jasper Johns, American Legend

I remember the moment I walked into the Menil Art Museum in Houston, Texas and saw my first Jasper Johns. They were so simple from a distance but up close had such complexity that they really stuck with me.

Really good art is often both striking without any foreknowledge, but also reveals extra complexity when you learn about the context in which it was made. When you look at a piece of non representational art, before you know the artist, try and think about the choices the artist made, and why they made them. Why is this line a certain thickness here, why is this part more or less transparent?

The process of making any piece of art is a series of decisions, conscious or not and at least to me, non representational art is an attempt to distill that part of creation into a physical form.

Context is fundamental in the appreciation but I think it's much less about the artist's life per se (although that could enrich the experience & interpretation, depending), and more about your cultivated tastes with the medium.

Your experience of food, wine is a function of your prior experience (and -- most importantly -- interest) w/ food & wine. Never had much wine before (like me), and you'll shrug w/ indifference at every glass. But this is only (my) ignorance/lack of interest/etc. It's a lacking.

Likewise, if your experience engaging w/ a painting on canvas is limited and mostly of disinterest/disengagement then so much of any given painting is going to be lost on you. Not completely, but by a large margin it will be.

The last question about recognizing the painting as a masterpiece is a little misplaced or needs fleshing out... No one looks at a painting and categorizes it as masterpiece or not. What one does is look at a painting and is given an experience and range of emotion. If that emotion is intense -- eg, exhilarating or intriguing or aggravating -- then the next question will be -- do I think this is a universal reaction? (I.e., not idiosyncratic to me. Experience guides in answering this follow-up, of course.) Then, if so: does this artist have an agent? Could I be his/her agent (if you think about making $$ alot)? OR: surely this piece is already established its market, ie been established as a Masterpiece by prior or current culture. Anyway what strong emotion typically does in any flesh & blood human is inevitably send us racing after questions like these..

A certain level of context helps, but it isn't necessary to have a complete picture. His painting, Flag, doesn't need much, but it's helpful to know about the USA, what the flag means, nationalism, etc. It further helps to know that he made it after serving in WWII. It follows that an alien seeing it for the first time would probably get less from it than someone coming at it with more context.

But no, you don't need to understand "his life and/or complete body of work" to enjoy it.

These works are best experienced in person. The scale, texture — it all plays a role. It helps to imagine the context, to imagine what if was like for these works to emerge when they did. But, I think Jasper Johns can definitely be appreciated without any of that — just standing in front of one of his works, taking it in like it’s a landscape; just something to experience.

> do his individual works stand alone or do you have to understand his life and/or complete body of work and the context in which it was created to appreciate it?

From my perspective, I'd say it's really more important to know where an artist's work stands in relation to their culture and their contemporaries. Most important artworks can be seen to have extended previous practice, to have influenced subsequent practice, and/or can be seen in retrospect to belong to some coherent zeitgeist.

You may see some works to truly stand alone. But I've personally found it difficult to connect to most great artworks that way.

It helped me a lot by just practicing painting. I enjoyed viewing art before then. But, it wasn’t until I attempted to express my vague ideas onto a canvas that I truly appreciated the masters’ mastery.

Maybe food is a good analogy? (another art form that goes back to Homo Sapien origins).

I appreciate a cake that my daughter makes from a box. But, I really, really appreciate a cake made by a master baker - a unique creation where every aspect (taste, texture, design, display, temperature, flavor, etc.) is considered and balanced into a cohesive whole.

Aesthetics are rooted in civilization, time, and class. It's very difficult to say if these works by Johns will survive 500 years from now given that famous bronze statues were melted down to make bullets. However, if you have time you should try to understand what's happened to fine art in the past 200 years if for no other reason than it's interesting and to challenge your views on aesthetics. Not all of it will last another 100 years, so that gives you an idea where things currently stand too.

One impression that I got from the article, which I thought was helpful, is that Johns's work serves as a transition or bridge between the Abstract Expressionists like de Kooning and Rothko and the more modern figures like Andy Warhol.

The Wikipedia article on abstract expressionism actually comes right out and says as much. So I'd start there, if you want some contextual background.

I first and best understood Jasper Johns in particular 'Flag' (1954 onwards) through viewing a documentary as a teenager.

The narrator described 'Flag' as many things: a flag, a painting, a sculptural object, a commentary and a concept.

These were and remain all true and equally valid.

The historical context of mid-50s America is helpful but not essential. Of more relevance is the disruptive innovation of creating a work both of and outside the system, that ends up influencing the system in return.

It's like a self-aware mutation with genetic and memetic qualities.