Jasper Johns [Paperback]

Michael Crichton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1977

This extraordinary book pairs two major talents of our time, the painter/sculptor/printmaker Jasper Johns and the physician/novelist/filmmaker Michael Crichton. Since it first appeared in 1977, Michael Crichton's Jasper Johns has been considered the preeminent study of one of America's foremost living artists. Abrams is proud now to publish this completely revised, expanded, and updated version of a modern classic. Jasper Johns has often been called an "artist's artist." In his use of found objects and commonplace imagery, he creates tantalizing, intellectually demanding works of unparalleled originality and uncommon beauty. His new work, with its puns, optical illusions, and embedded images ranging from George Ohr pots to the Isenheim Altarpiece to Picasso etchings, has attracted an unprecedented level of intense critical attention. Here Michael Crichton, author of The Andromeda Strain, Jurassic Park, and Rising Sun, among other bestsellers, brings to bear his own extraordinary gifts, particularly his analytic skill and his superior abilities as narrator and storyteller. Crichton, who has known Johns and collected his work for more than twenty years, offers a dazzling succession of intimate glimpses of Johns' potent and seemingly contradictory aspects, many of them highlighted by interviews with the artist, his dealers, and distinguished contemporary critics. He also conducts a powerful, sensitive, and wide reaching critique of Johns' work - and in so doing offers an intriguing investigation into the very nature of the artistic response. Accompanying Crichton's text are 186 black-and-white illustrations, including works by Johns, photographs of him, and comparative examples. Then comesa spectacular display of 231 paintings, prints, sculptures, and drawings by Jasper Johns, ranging from his earliest pieces to his most recent works, some forty years later. Of these, 128 are reproduced in duotone and 103 in full color, including six magnificent foldout pages - t

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Johns can easily lay claim to the title of greatest living American artist, and polymath novelist/doctor Crichton here provides an indispensable overview of his career. Crichton has substantially expanded and revised his 1977 monograph on Johns to cover his latest work. Drawing on interviews with the often laconic artist as well as commentary from art historians, dealers, and friends, Crichton sketches Johns's creative processes and the development of his style. This accessible portrait of the artist's work is both insightful and enlightening, furnishing context for Johns's place in contemporary art. The extensive color and duotone photographs provide a nearly complete summation of Johns's career from the early 1950s through the present. Highly recommended for all art collections and larger public libraries.
Martin R. Kalfatovic, Smithsonian Inst. Libs., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 243 pages
• Publisher: Abrams, in association with the Whitney Museum of American Art; 1ST edition (1977)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874270243
• ISBN-13: 978-0874270242
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 9.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #155,177 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good, April 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Jasper Johns (Hardcover)

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.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably as good as possible--without being intrusive, January 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Jasper Johns (Hardcover)

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.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Into the heart of creation, December 21, 2008

By 

Claude Reich (Florianopolis, Brazil and Paris, France) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jasper Johns (Hardcover)

I own six books on Jasper Johns (monographs, catalogues of exhibitions) and this one is undoutedly the best. The illustrations are numerous and of a good quality, however this is not your coffee-table type of book: you do want to read the text, which, through numerous interviews and essays, manages to give the best analysis available on the master's art. Especially interesting are the dialogues between Chrichton (himself a collector of Johns's works) and the artist. This is a book that often provides unique insight into the artist's creative process; Chrichton opens many doors and it is up to the reader/art lover to step in and discover Johns's mysterious world.