The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 24, 2024

Reconstruction

Reconstruction

1959
(American, b. 1930)
Framed: 154 x 114.5 x 4 cm (60 5/8 x 45 1/16 x 1 9/16 in.); Unframed: 155 x 111.7 cm (61 x 44 in.)
© Jasper Johns / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Jasper Johns was awarded the Medal of Freedom, bestowed by President Barack Obama in 2011.

Description

In the encaustic technique, pigment is suspended in wax that is heated and used as paint, and dries quickly once it is applied to the canvas. The gesture of the artist’s hand and the strokes and drips of the brushwork are thus readily apparent. Johns also applied a piece of extra canvas to this work, folding it into the surface to create a three-part composition. The title suggests that the painting really only has meaning in the mind of the spectator, who “reconstructs” the work according to the basic vocabulary of marks and materials that the artist presents.
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 255 archive.org
    Bernstein, Roberta, Heidi Colsman-Freyberger, Caitlin Sweeney and Betsy Stepina Zinn. Jasper Johns: Catalogue Raisonné of Painting and Sculpture. NY: The Wildenstein Plattner Institute, 2017. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 156-157, cat. # P78
    Bernstein, Roberta, Heidi Colsman-Freyberger, Caitlin Sweeney and Betsy Stepina Zinn. Jasper Johns: Catalogue Raisonné of Painting and Sculpture. NY: The Wildenstein Plattner Institute, 2017. Reprorreproduced: p. 119, cat #: P78
  • Jasper Johns: Mind/Mirror. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA (organizer) (September 29, 2021-February 13, 2022) https://www.philamuseum.org/calendar/exhibition/jasper-johns-mindmirror.
    Jasper Johns: An Allegory of Painting, 1955-1965. National Gallery of Art, Landover, MD (organizer) (January 28-April 29, 2007).
    Abstract Expressionism in the United States. Centro Cultural Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City (October 10, 1996-January 12, 1997).
    Heritage and Horizon: American Painting 1776 - 1976. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY (organizer) (March 7-April 11, 1976); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (May 2-June 13, 1976); The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH (July 4-August 15, 1976); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (September 8-October 10, 1976).
    Year in Review: 1973. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 30-March 17, 1974).
    CMA 1974: "Year in Review 1973" Bulletin LXI (February 1974), p. 77, cat. no. 148, repr. p. 56.
    Buffalo, NY. Albright Knox Art Gallery, Heritage and Horizons: American Paintings 1776-1976, March 6-April 11, 1976, cat. no. 59 (also to Detroit Institute of Arts, May 5-June 13, 1976; Toledo Museum of Art, July 4-August 15, 1976; and The Cleveland Museum of Art, September 8-Octiber 10, 1976).
  • {{cite web|title=Reconstruction|url=false|author=Jasper Johns|year=1959|access-date=24 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1973.28