Amazon.com

In any survey of the art of the second half of this century, Jasper Johns is a central figure. This comprehensive book is the most authoritative and complete book to date on this important North American artist. This lavish volume contains 483 illustrations, including 261 in full color and four foldouts. Johns's entire oeuvre is arranged in sections corresponding to each era of his career in all media--paintings, drawings, sculptures, and prints. With its scholarly essays, beautiful color plate reproductions, and extensive bibliography and chronology, this book is sure to become the definitive resource on Jasper Johns. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A magnificent retrospective of this great artist's life work
Did you miss the Johns retrospective at NY MOMA?This book captures the essence of an American Michaelangelo.Subjective?You bet!If you have even the slightest interest in modern art your library is not complete without this retrospective.The many color and b&w photographs are superb, and it is accompanied by a solid chronology of Mr. Johns's life.Emphasis is on original works, but includes a good selection of more important lithographs (I recommend the prints Catalog Raisonne by ULAE if you want a complete reference work in this area).A tour de force by Varnedoe and his editing team! ... Read more

Amazon.com

This little book has an essay at the front by Leo Castelli, the legendary New York art dealer who in the late 1950s snapped up the young Jasper Johns for his stable of new artists--nearly all of whom became wildly successful. Most of the rest of the book is like a snapshot album, immersing the reader in pictures of Johns, his studio, his paintings, and historical artifacts. These last include the Art News magazine cover of 1958 that put Johns on the map. Speaking of maps, there are reproductions of Johns's famous U.S. maps, and also of his targets and the late double shadow, crosshatch paintings. In the back of the book, there is a brief chronology, plus captions explaining the preceding plates. It's a surprisingly good idea to place them at the end--nicely non-intrusive.

Read Castelli's essay to get a sense of the renowned and perspicacious Leo Castelli, rather than for what it tells you about Johns. For that, there are hundreds of other sources. One startlingly thoughtful analysis of Johns's work appears in James Fenton's book Leonardo's Nephew. Castelli reveals that MoMA's Tom Hess had "a friend" buy one of Johns's early American flag paintings for the museum in order to bypass a conservative acquisitions committee. Fenton tells us it was the architect Philip Johnson, and that it then took 15 years for MoMA to wrest it from Johnson's appreciative grasp. --Peggy Moorman ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Good
Novelists have always loved artists, and artists have always loved novelists. They love and admire the other's talent, but--most important--they are not competitors. Crichton's love of Johns' work certainly comes forth, and Johns' seemed flattered that a best-selling novelist, and not an art professor, wanted to do a book on him. That mutual admiration underlies why this is such a solid book.

Probably as good as possible--without being intrusive
The author well restrained himself from "digging into the painful childhood" that produced such an unusually remote "negator of impulses." He brought out the positive aspects of Johns personality--his ability to laugh at himself and not always to take himself too seriously. "His work is a constant negation of impulses" said the critic..."wouldn't you say so Jasper?" "NO" says Jasper, laughing. Jasper can laugh. That is nice. The author respected his need for privacy in his personal life. He presented a very difficult, complex personality with dignity, humor, and good taste.

Jasper Johns: Interesting.
Jasper Johns is a very large, and expensive book. It has many illestrations, and lots of commentary. This is a Crichton that has faded into the background, and in some cases can be very hard to find. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Good
Novelists have always loved artists, and artists have always loved novelists. They love and admire the other's talent, but--most important--they are not competitors. Crichton's love of Johns' workcertainly comes forth, and Johns' seemed flattered that a best-sellingnovelist, and not an art professor, wanted to do a book on him. That mutualadmiration underlies why this is such a solid book.

Probably as good as possible--without being intrusive
The author well restrained himself from "digging into the painful childhood" that produced such an unusually remote "negator of impulses."He brought out the positive aspects of Johnspersonality--his ability to laugh at himself and not always to take himselftoo seriously."His work is a constant negation of impulses"said the critic..."wouldn't you say so Jasper?""NO"says Jasper, laughing.Jasper can laugh.That is nice.The authorrespected his need for privacy in his personal life.He presented a verydifficult, complex personality with dignity, humor, and good taste.

Probably as good as possible--without being intrusive
The author well restrained himself from "digging into the painful childhood" that produced such an unusually remote "negator of impulses."He brought out the positive aspects of Johnspersonality--his ability to laugh at himself and not always to take himselftoo seriously."His work is a constant negation of impulses"said the critic..."wouldn't you say so Jasper?""NO"says Jasper, laughing.Jasper can laugh.That is nice.The authorrespected his need for privacy in his personal life.He presented a verydifficult, complex personality with dignity, humor, and good taste.

Jasper Johns: Interesting.
Jasper Johns is a very large, and expensive book. It has many illestrations, and lots of commentary. This is a Crichton that has faded into the background, and in some cases can be very hard to find. ... Read more

Book Description

The John S. Williams plantation in Georgia was operated largely with the labor of slaves-and this was in 1921, 56 years after the Civil War. Williams was not alone in using "peons," but his reaction to a federal investigation was almost unbelievable: he decided to destroy the evidence. Enlisting the aid of his trusted black farm boss, Clyde Manning, he began methodically killing his slaves. As this true story unfolds, each detail seems more shocking, and surprises continue in the aftermath, with a sensational trial galvanizing the nation and marking a turning point in the treatment of black Americans. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Lay This Body Down is a MUST read...
Lay This Body Down is a great book and one which flows quickly and easily. I found myself having trouble putting the book down. Williams is the embodiment of the plantation farmer during the early 20s. Manning is used as a wonderful vehicle for the reader to see what it was like through a "slave's" eyes. I was able to place myself right next to Manning's side throughout the book and could feel the horror/terror that he felt. This is a must read for anyone who has any interest in the history of the south and the way blacks were treated well after slavery was abolished.

engrossing history lesson
Lay This Body Down provides an engrossing look at a terrible act from twentieth century Georgia history that chills the reader to the bone. It is the fact that these events actually occurred that makes the story so powerful. Freeman's portrayal totally involves the reader so that he feels as if he were there. Bravo! I can't wait for Freeman's next book, whatever the topic.

Sad but true
Simply unbelievable! This book is based on court transcribed events and if it had not been for that simple fact, the atrocities found within the pages of Lay This Body Down would be incomprehensible. This fact based accounting of the 1921 murders of 11 plantation slaves in Newton and Jasper Counties, Georgia is horrific but sadly true. Yes you read correctly, the year is 1921, not during the officially recognized time of slavery. Slavery was legally over but a new system was rearing its head in the south - peonage. Peonage was a practice given prominence by southern plantation owners to employ workers (read enslave) for cheap or at no cost. If a Negro owed a debt and was unable to pay the debt he would be thrown in prison. With little to no hope of paying his fine -sometimes in amounts as low as a few dollars- he would sit in prison until... Wealthy landowners would visit the prisons and pay these menial fines and the person would be released to this landowner to repay the debt. It could and often did take a lifetime for this person to pay of the debt so they would be Peon's or Slaves to this person. Such is the case of the people found on the John S. Williams Plantation. Mr. Williams and his wife and 12 children occupied land in Newton County, Covington, Georgia. His older boys had plots of adjacent land and too employed peons. The Federal Bureau of Investigation from the Atlanta office had been called in to look at cases of Peonage - which was illegal, and their investigation lead to the Williams Plantation. Mr. Williams not being immediately present on the day the FBI came to call, found these revenuers interviewing his hired hand and overseer, a Negro named Clyde Manning. Understandably nervous and frightened Mr. Manning answered questions posed to him truthfully but they conflicted with Mr. Williams accounting. Now it was Mr. Williams' turn to become nervous and his remedy was to murder those Negroes who posed a threat to his families way of life. A cunning man, Mr. Williams had Mr. Manning conduct the murders. In an unprecedented decision, Mr. Williams was found guilty of murder based on the testimony of a black man and from 1921 to 1966 this did not happen again in a Georgia Court Room. Mr. Manning was also found guilty but both men were spared the death penalty.

These shocking and horrific crimes were well documented by the author, Gregory A. Freeman. He did a wonderful job of backing up this true tale with documented facts, figures and pictures. It's sad that this story had to be told but it illustrates that the south wasn't used to the idea, some 56 years after slavery- that all men are created equal. It is sad that Mr. Manning felt the need to comply with Mr. Williams wishes to kill his own people for fear of his own life and that of his family. Sadly not a lot of Georgians know about this case and I'm trying to determine if it is because this is just one of many cases and in the telling of family history this was commonplace. Read this book not to anger yourself but to get a greater understanding of the true side of history.

brings you too close to gruesome past!
This book is one of the most involving reads I ever had, more so cause this is based on concrete facts and the author clearly gives the sources, mentions that the statements are either quoted in toto from courtroom notes or from the newspapers. The author must be applauded for writing on such a sensitive topic and not trying to sensasionalize one side of the argument or the other.

I wouldn't recommend it as light reading, this should be read with a view to understand what went on in the southern states before and/or after the great emancipation. It was tremendously helpful to me to understand the varying treatment of the slaves in different plantations, frankly I was confused before by the contradictory treatment of this topic in 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' and 'Gone with the wind'

Double Standard
LAY THIS BODY DOWN was a small portrait of the double standards that existed among those who owned slaves. Such a "family man" as John Williams could inspire fear, hatred, and murder in his slaves and his sons. He was even a murderer himself. Yet, he could be kind to his wife and daughter. I read the book, not because I enjoyed it, but because it is a reminder of the evils inherent in the abuse of other people and other races. If we are not reminded, it will be repeated. John Williams was evil incarnate. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Though Jasper Johns is probably most famous for the now-iconic flag paintings he made during the 1950s, he continues to produce great paintings today. This latest body of work--first shown at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art--dates to the very late '90s. And this beautifully produced exhibition catalog offers readers a glimpse at and insight into the work called the Bridge series. There is a loneliness to these paintings, with their dark palette and single strings of color set against expansive gray spaces. The solitary strings allude to the cables of suspension bridges and hang in front of the pictures with a swooped, gravity-induced curve. The dark, mysterious quality of the canvasses is brightened somewhat by details like that of a harlequin's diamond pattern painted in muted colors. Childhood imagery appears here, too--a dragon figure from a long ago Halloween, for one. Though at first glance these moody, memory-imbued paintings seem very different from much of the painter's other work, Johns's trademark themes are not entirely absent. His predilection for playing up the sculptural elements of painting is evident in the pieces of wood framing he's attached to these and the illusion of painted wood framing around the edges of the works. While the Bridge series works represent something of a departure for Johns, the paintings maintain a strong connection to the motifs he's investigated throughout his career. This is a meditative and fascinating art book experience. [86 pages, 13 full-color plates, 15 black-and-white illustrations] --J.P. Cohen ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Johns and the Bridge Paintings
The first major departure in Johns's work in years, these "bridge" paintings are sensational. Having seen the actual paintings in San Francisco, I can attest to the general fidelity of the printed images, although the scale of the finished pieces is so vast in comparison with the book that they loose a bit in the translation of the surface textures. Richard S. Field has written a well-reasoned explanation of some of the imagery, and Joachim Pissarro takes the interesting tack of tying the paintings references to some of Hart Crane's poetry ("The Bridge"). The work Johns has done is always extraordinary, and in some cases transcendant. It will be fascinating to see how these catenary images are absorbed into his work ahead. I recommend the book highly.

One to miss
This book, like many museum publications, is a waste of tree pulp. None of the authors can write and the ideas are weak to boot. As a written work, this volume is an awful waste of time, but the new John's images are rather nice. ... Read more

Book Description

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. And then some. Between 1954 and 1960, Jasper Johns developed his well-known repertory of flat images, including flags, targets, alphabets, words, maps, and numbers--subjects drawn not from popular culture so much as from human consciousness. His explorations of these familiar symbols drew attention to how reality is represented through such visual signs, and how we interpret them. This exhibition catalogue accompanies the first show to concentrate in depth on a single subject by Johns--Numbers--and it brings together painting, drawing, collage, and printmaking from all periods of his career, focusing on the years between 1955 and 1979. Included are an in-depth essay by curator Roberta Bernstein, who has written extensively on Johns, color plates of all the works in the exhibition, illustrations of other important works, and a list of all works by Johns on the subject, organized by theme.

Essays by Roberta Bernstein and Carter E. Foster. ~Foreword by Katharine Lee Reid.

Paperback, 11.5 x 10 in./96 pgs / 134 color. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Terrific Exhibition Catalog
I saw this show at LACMA and wanted this catalog but it was way too expensive for me - especially for a softbound. The numbers show helped me understand Johns' wonderfully logical, creative, individualistic, lovingly obsessive world. While the printed photos are miles away from the flesh of the encaustic and layered torn papers, it keeps his inspirational pieces close at hand. Yes, it is a must for you. ... Read more

Book Description

art, fresh insight into Johns' new paintings ... Read more

Book Description

In 1984, Jasper Johns suggested to an interviewer that he had made a critical shift in his working process. "In my early work," he said, "I tried to hide my personality, my psychological state, my emotions...I sort of stuck to my guns for a while, but eventually it seemed like a losing battle. Finally, one must simply drop the reserve." His paintings of the 1980s and 90s bear this out: their imagery often includes objects and locations in his present studio and home, as well as allusions to memories of his childhood. These motifs are reiterated, altered, reworked and quoted in the context of new compositions, forming layered and complex spaces of recollection that merge past and present. This profusely illustrated volume, published in conjunction with an exhibition of paintings, prints and drawings organized by the Walker Art Center, is the first to look broadly at this period in Johns' career. All of the artist's major bodies of work from the past two decades--including those based on the Seasons, Green Angel and Catenary motifs--are covered in this study, with special consideration given to imagery appropriated from Picasso and Manet. Many of the works are published here for the first time, making this an invaluable tool for the study of Johns' work. Edited by Joan Rothfuss.~Essays by Richard Shiff, Victor Stoichita, ~Foreword by Kathy Halbreich. Hardcover, 8.5 x 11 in./144 pgs / 80 color 0 BW0 duotone 0 ~ Item D20257 ... Read more

Book Description

Published to accompany an exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Jasper Johns to Jeff Koons presents contemporary art from the private collections of Eli and Edythe Broad, which are among the most important in the world. Featuring works by 22 significant artists, including Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Ed Ruscha, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Cindy Sherman, this handsome volume addresses major movements such as American Neo-Dada and Pop, and German Neo-Expressionism, as well as art of the 1980s and current works from California.

An interview with the Broads and scholarly texts addressing important aspects of the collections situate the 160 full-color plates in art-historical context. ... Read more

Book Description

Help Wanted: MAGISTRATE

Shift work; evening, weekend, and holiday hours required. Serves as judicial officer at various police stations. Apply Room 102, Adult Detention Center.

That's an ad you don't see in the help wanted columns every day. But there it was, alphabetically between laborers and maids. A very curious ad indeed.

John Jasper mulled it over for a while and reread the ad a few more times. He was intrigued, but he was also a little suspicious. In the back of his mind was the thought that there was a scam occurring in room 102. Then again, it was the Adult Detention Center, so it had to be legitimate, didn't it? There was only one sure way to find out. So off he went, seeking room 102.

Such moments change people's lives, and John Jasper's life was forever changed when he became a magistrate of the Commonwealth of Virginia. He was taught the job the same way he had learned to swim in summer camp -- they threw him off the dock into deep water. But this time, in addition to deep, it was also strange and mysterious water.

Along the way, he was told that everybody lies, and everybody knows it.

The magistrate's job, he discovered, is to figure out what happened, not who's telling the truth. Since everybody's lying, nobody's telling the truth, so determining what actually happened is what's important.

Join John Jasper in a sometimes exasperating but unfailingly hilarious romp through Virginia's criminal justice system. You'll discover the funniest (and sometimes saddest) "out takes" the magistrate's office has to offer.

Here's a sampling of chapter titles: "He's Deaf, I'm Chinese", "'Y' is for Asian", "Combat Boots and a Mini-skirt", "A Jerk, a Parakeet, and an Iranian", "A Rocket Scientist", "'Z' is for Allute", "DWI -- Too Drunk to Walk", and our personal favorite, "The Finger." ... Read more

Reviews (4)

A mix of "COPS" and "Night Court."
A collection of anecdotes, told by a real magistrate in Virginia which is at times poignant, funny, and distressing. Oh, the trouble some people have just getting on in life! The author describes what he deals with day in and day out, sharing his values and conclusions. I highly recommend this book to anyone, as it is both entertaining and educational. Would be excellent gift for high school or college students thinking about careers in social services or law.

Witty and humorous, yet painfully real. Great reading.
The author's self-effacing style brought a reality to the situations that made me feel like I was there experiencing the insanity, fumbling along with him in search of a valid assessment of impassioned criminal complaints. The quick pace, wit and humor kept my interest such that I didn't put it down until I was done. The book gives a base working level picture of the front end of the criminal justice system in the Commonwealth of Virginia from the perspective of an individual (The Magistrate) who is interviewing cops as well as suspects and witnesses hot from the "scene of the crime" before they have had time to reflect on and organize their stories for their own benefit. It is a great study on the devious side of human nature as it applies to suspects, witnesses and victims weaving a tangled web to try to save their hides or punish their enemies. It is a window inside a government bureaucracy as viewed candidly by a bureaucrat that is still clinging to a conscience and a heart. This book is stimulating, amusing, emotional yet easy reading. I can see it as a best seller when it is discovered.

G R E A T R E A D ! ! !
I've already ordered them as Christmas gifts. Certainly one of the most interesting, and well written, paperbacks this year. Sure to be a best seller.

Want someone arrested? Go tell it to the magistrate!
Want someone arrested? But the police won't do it? In Virginia, you go to the County Magistrate (used be called Justices of the Peace) and tell your story under oath. If you are the victim of a crime, and your sworn testimony doesn't veer too far from the truth, the magistrate will issue an arrest warrant and you will get your day in court. After 15 years as a county magistrate, and after hearing thousands of stories, John Jasper has discovered that no one tells 'the whole truth and nothing but the truth'. We all lie, some of us are damn liars, and it's his job to get behind the lies as quickly as possible and winnow the truth out of the strong emotional stew presented to him in the guise of testimony. Oh, and it's also his job to issue search and arrest warrants requested by the police, interview drunken drivers and spouse beaters and drug dealers brought in by the police to determine if they wait for trial in jail or on bail, and to also try to solve heartbreaking problems brought to him by citizens who really need the advice of Solomon and the protection of Superman. You will read stories here, first told in the basement of the county jail, which will make you laugh, make you cry, make you angry, make you smile. They will also leave you, as they have left John Jasper, very wary of the judicial process in the county, the state, and the USA. ... Read more

Book Description

Fred Orton offers the clearest and most penetrating picture yet of the enigmatic American painter, Jasper Johns.

"Fred Orton writes on Jasper Johns with clarity as well as conviction. . . . If Orton engages you with the play of words and concepts, he is equally adept at drawing you close into Johns_ paintings. . . . With equal authority, Orton analyzes the critical distinction, as articulated by Johns himself, between the actual and the figured."_Richard Shiff, ArtForum

"A significant contribution to the large body of literature about one of the more provocative and enigmatic artists of the mid- and late-20th-century."_Michael J. Prokopow, Boston Book Review

Fred Orton is Senior Lecturer in History of Art, University of Leeds, U.K.

Book Description

This digital document is an article from New Statesman (1996), published by New Statesman, Ltd. on July 5, 1996. The length of the article is 877 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the supplier: Jasper Johns' well-known US flag paintings, which are on view at London's Anthony d'Offay Gallery until late July 1996, provoke a curious mix of responses among viewers. Americans' views of Johns' paintings tend to be colored by feelings of patriotism that surround the flag.

Citation Details
Title: Wham bam thank you ma'am! There's no time for foreplay when you're viewing Jasper Johns. (Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London, England)
Author: Michael Bywater
Publication: New Statesman (1996) (Magazine/Journal)
Date: July 5, 1996
Publisher: New Statesman, Ltd.
Volume: v125Issue: n4291Page: p38(1)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Good stuff
A very good book. I used it for a research paper on the New York School and Abstract Expressionism. I focused on Cage, so I didn't read the whole book, but if it is as good as the section on Cage, I'd say it's a very good book. ... Read more