Jasper Johns
by Michael Crichton
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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 show more 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 comes a 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 - the most lavish view of the artist's work ever assembled between book covers. Meticulous scholarship supports this presentation of Jasper Johns by Michael Crichton in every respect. Notes, a selected bibliography, and an index of illustrated works complete this extraordinary volume - a book for the layman, for the art specialist, and for all who love contemporary art. show lessTags
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This new edition presents a completely revised, expanded and updated version of a modern classic. Jasper Johns's recent pieces, with their puns, optical illusions and embedded images have attracted considerable critical attention. Crichton, who knows Johns and has collected his work for over 20 years, here offers intimate glimpses of the artist's potent and seemingly contradictory aspects. Accompanying the text is a whole portfolio of illustrations, providing an overview of his work as painter, sculptor and printmaker. Over 200 works are reproduced, including colour and foldout reproductions.
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Author Information
142+ Works 171,669 Members
John Michael Crichton, known as Michael Crichton, was born on October 28, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois. He wrote novels while attending Harvard University and Harvard Medical School to help pay the tuition. One of these, The Andromeda Strain, which was published in 1969, became a bestseller. After graduating summa cum laude, he was a postdoctoral show more fellow at the Salk Institute in California before becoming a full-time writer and film director. His carefully researched novels included Eaters of the Dead, The Terminal Man, The Great Train Robbery, Congo, Sphere, Jurassic Park, Rising Sun, Disclosure, The Lost World, Airframe, and Micro. He also wrote non-fiction works including Five Patients: The Hospital Explained, Jasper Johns, and Travels. In the late 1960s, he also wrote under the pen names Jeffrey Hudson and John Lange. He has received several awards including Writer of the Year in 1970 from the Association of American Medical Writers and two Edgar Awards in 1968 and in 1979. Many of his novels have been made into highly successful films, six of which he directed. He was also the creator and executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning television series ER. In addition to his writing and directorial success, his expertise in information science enabled him to run a software company and develop a computer game. He died of cancer on November 4, 2008 at the age of 66. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Jasper Johns
- Original title
- Jasper Johns
- Original publication date
- 1977
- Epigraph
- "We see, not change of aspect, but change of interpretation" - Ludwig Wittgenstein
"I am just trying to find a way to make pictures" - Jasper Johns
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Statistics
- Members
- 155
- Popularity
- 209,271
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.50)
- Languages
- English, French, Japanese
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 3
