JASPER JOHNS
Lot 212

JASPER JOHNS

The Seasons (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter) (ULAE 238-41)

Closed31 October 2012

Price Realised

USD 122,500

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JASPER JOHNS
The Seasons (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter) (ULAE 238-41)
the complete set of four etchings with aqautint in colors, 1987, on Somerset, each signed and dated in pencil, numbered 40/73 (there were 16, 14, 14, and 13 artist's proofs respectively), published by ULAE, West Islip, New York, with their blindstamp, each with full margins, generally in very good condition, each framed
Each P. 19 3/8 x 12 7/8 in. (493 x 327 mm.)
Each S. 26 3/8 x 19¼ in. (670 x 489 mm.) (4)

Specialist note

In 1987, Johns held an exhibition at the Leo Castelli Gallery which included four paintings and a number of paintings and prints representing the four seasons. The figurative content of this body of work represented a decisive movement away from the non-figurative abstraction which had been the main stylistic form of Johns' work from the mid 1970's.
Drawing on a long artistic tradition of depicting the seasons as subjects, Johns not only includes self-referential symbols and interests but also a depiction of his own shadowy form. A reference to the passage of time is alluded to in the clock like half-sphere where a depiction of the artist's own arm swings from top to bottom as do the hands of a clock.