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Jasper Johns, Target, 1958, oil and collage on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of the Artist

Target, Johns (ASL)

Johns was known early in his career for returning recognizable objects, like targets, to the visual arts following the intensely personal, gestural painting of the abstract expressionists. He presented these familiar items in a cool, seemingly detached, and often enigmatic manner. The tactile quality of his surfaces in works like this one stand out and are a testament to the close relationship Johns perceived between painting and sculpture.

09/30/16