Artwork
Savarin
Artist
Jasper Johns
(American, born 1930)
PublisherPublished by
Universal Limited Art Editions
(founded 1957)
DepartmentContemporary Art
Date1977
MediumLithograph
Dimensionsunframed: 45 3/4 x 34 1/2 in. (116.2 x 87.6 cm)
framed: 53 1/2 x 42 in. (135.9 x 106.7 cm)
framed: 53 1/2 x 42 in. (135.9 x 106.7 cm)
Credit LineSan Antonio Museum of Art, purchased with funds provided by Mrs. Otto A. Koehler
Object number82.26.1
Copyright© Jasper Johns / Artists Rights Society, NY
GeographyPrintedUnited States
Label Text"I think what interested me was the coffee can used to hold turpentine for the brushes - the idea of one thing mixed with another for a purpose."
- Jasper Johns
Johns has used the image of a Savarin brand coffee can filled with used paint brushes in many artworks over the years, and in a variety of mediums. He first introduced the image in a bronze sculpture that he created in 1960. In preparation for his 1977 retrospective exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Johns designed a poster with an image of the Savarin sculpture placed before one of his recent paintings, characterized by cross-hatched patterning. This lithograph is from an edition that is based on the poster.
Taken together, these self-referential images of the sculpture and the painting simultaneously commemorate two periods in the artist's development. At the same time, their juxtaposition suggests a new set of relationships between the images. In addition to representing two time periods in John's career, the imagery refers all at once to three mediums - painting, sculpture, and the medium through which they are combined here, printmaking. There is also a conceptual relationship between the brushes and the painting behind them, in that the brushes are the tools that the artist could have used to make the painting.ProvenancePublished by U.L.A.E, printed by Bill Goldston and James U. Smith.SignedSigned and number 27/50Not on view
Collections
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
