These four prints of The Seasons explore artifacts and seasonal symbols to represent the epochs of life and the cycles of growth and aging. The works review many motifs used previously in Johns's work—e.g. the arm in a partial circle rotates like a clock through these panels. Optical illusions such as duck/rabbit or old woman/young woman in Spring explore the nature of seeing and experience. In Fall, a profile of Marcel Duchamp (a spiritual and artistic mentor to Johns) is included next to a skull and crossbones from a Swiss sign warning of avalanche danger, a reminder of mortality. The Seasons also incorporates elements of more reflective imagery that emerged in his work in the 1980s. A scaled down version of the artist's own shadow refers to Johns's meditation on his own path.
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private collection (until 1999; sale, Sotheby's, New York, November 6, 1999, no. 1126, sold to MMA)
Judith Goldman. Jasper Johns: The Seasons. Exh. cat., Leo Castelli Gallery. New York, 1987, unpaginated, discusses the artist's paintings for "The Seasons" cycle and reproduces 1985 and 1986 published versions of the "Summer" and "Winter" etchings.
Barbara Rose. "Jasper Johns: The Seasons." Vogue 177 (January 1987), p. 199.
Mark Rosenthal. Jasper Johns: Work Since 1974. Exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, 1988, p. 89, colorpls. 33–36 (not this edition; collection Leonard I. and Jane Korman, Fort Washington, Penn.).
Barry Walker. Projects & Portfolios: The 25th National Print Exhibition. Exh. cat., Brooklyn Museum. Brooklyn, 1989, unpaginated, no. 38, ill. (not this edition; collection Bill Goldston, New York).
Phyllis Braff. "Printmaking as Exploration." New York Times (November 5, 1989), p. L.I.21, ill. ("Summer"; not this edition).
James Cuno inJasper Johns: Printed Symbols. Exh. cat., Walker Art Center. Minneapolis, 1990, pp. 83–89, ill. pp. 79–82 (color; not this edition, collection Walker Art Center, Minneapolis).
Susan Tallman. "Prints and Editions: Jasper Johns." Arts Magazine 65 (September 1990), p. 18.
Vivien Raynor. "31 Artists Take a Decade's Measure." New York Times (January 21, 1990), p. CN26 (not this edition).
Roberta Smith. "Jasper Johns, Incessant Recycler of Images." New York Times (July 29, 1990), p. H31 (not this edition).
Roberta Bernstein. Jasper Johns: The Seasons. Exh. cat., Brooke Alexander Editions. New York, 1991, pp. 9–13, 24, nos. 13–16, ill. pp. 20–23 (color; not this edition, AP 2/14).
Riva Castleman. Seven Master Printmakers: Innovations in the Eighties. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1991, pp. 87–88, 111, ill. pp. 40–41 (color; not this edition, Lilja Collection, London).
Roberta Smith. "Art in Review: Jasper Johns 'The Seasons'." New York Times (January 3, 1992), p. C28.
Vivien Raynor. "Golden Age of Printing Revisited." New York Times (October 11, 1992), p. CN22.
Stephen J. Lucey. Thirty Years at Universal Limited Art Editions: Selections from the Collection of Peter and Susan Ralston. Exh. cat., Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University. Middleton, Conn., 1992, pp. 9, 21–22, nos. 20–23, ill. p. 12 (not this edition; edition 26/73).
Richard S. Field. The Prints of Jasper Johns 1960–1993: A Catalogue Raisonné. West Islip, N.Y., 1994, unpaginated, nos. 238–41, ill. (color and bw).
"International Auction Review." Art on Paper 4 (January–February 2000), pp. 98, 100.
Merrily Kerr and John Lund. "Home Plate." Art on Paper 9 (July/August 2005), p. 26.
Allison Rudnick. "The Enigma Machine, Jasper Johns." Art in Print 4 (September–October 2014), pp. 25–26, ill. (color) ("Winter"; not this edition).
Susan Hodara. "A Marriage of Visual Masters." New York Times (April 27, 2014), p. WE11.
Wendy Weitman inJasper Johns and John Lund: Masters in the Print Studio. Exh. cat., Katonah Museum of Art. Katonah, N.Y., 2014, pp. 8–9, 13, 42, ill. pp. 6–7 (color; not this edition, collection Jordan D. Schnitzer).
Elizabeth DeRose and John Lund inJasper Johns and John Lund: Masters in the Print Studio. Exh. cat., Katonah Museum of Art. Katonah, N.Y., 2014, p. 37.
Kate McCrickard. "Jasper Johns." Art in Print 8 (March–April 2019), p. 16.
Jasper Johns (American, born Augusta, Georgia, 1930)
1960
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