![Image: Jasper Johns: An Allegory of Painting, 1955–1965](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090506021902im_/http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2007/johns/johnsinfo.gif)
This exhibition is no longer on view at the National Gallery. Please follow the links below for related online resources or visit our current exhibitions schedule.
![image: Target, 1958
oil and collage on canvas; 91.44 x 91.44 cm (36 x 36 in.); National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of the Artist, On Loan](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090506021902im_/http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2007/johns/johnsinfo.jpg)
The early career of
Jasper Johns (b. 1930) had an immense impact on the subsequent development of advanced art—pop, minimal, process, conceptual, and performance genres, among others—in the United States and Europe. This exhibition of some 80 objects from the first decade includes a number of Johns' most important paintings, drawings, and prints, such as
Target with Plaster Casts (1955) and
Diver (1962). The exhibition will trace the unfolding relationship of four specific motifs: the target, the mechanical "device," the naming of colors, and the imprint of the body. Through specific sequences of work, it will present Johns' early period as one devoted to examining and reinventing the premises of painting during an era when painting practice was riddled with conceptual upheaval and doubt. Works for this exhibition will be drawn from private and public collections in the United States and Europe.
Organization: Organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Sponsor: This exhibition is proudly sponsored by Target as part of its commitment to arts and education.
This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.