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Comparision to original flag
The Jasper Johns’ Flag is not exactly a replica of flag of the United States of America. There is the same number of stars and stripes as were on The USA flag in time when Johns were painting his flag but the proportions of Johns’ flag had been changed. But that is the only difference between the original flag and the painting.
Generally about the painting
The Johns’ painting is not as flat as the original flag, however, it is not three-dimensional in normal definition of 3D. The surface of the painting is built up on different layers and it is rugged and textured.
He got that effect by using encaustic painting (mixing oils with beeswax) and painting on the newspaper stuck to the canvas. Encaustic was known in Ancient Egypt and used in the Fayum mummy portraits around 1[tel]AD. Using the media such as the newspapers was a new technique just introduced by Cubists. That shows us that Johns was not only using the new techniques innovator but he was also looking for an inspiration in the past. I can say that he was combining the traditional and the modern techniques and styles.
You can’t even say whether the Jasper Johns’ work is a painting or just a flag. Johns doesn’t give us any clear way of interpreting his work. How someone interprets this piece of art depends on someone’s own judgment. But it seems to be both an abstract painting and a traditional graphic image.
Johns said that he got the inspiration to pain this flag in a dream he had one night where he saw himself painting the flag of the USA. Next day he just sat down and made it come true.
By presenting this in this way he is questioning our understanding of what it represents. He didn’t give a simple answer to what this painting means.
Influence
Cubism – using shallow space Collage (newspaper stuck to the surface and combined with paint) and flattened surface
Dada – Johns used the object that already existed and presented it as something new.
Surrealism – the idea of painting the flag was based on Johns’ dream which is the one of the characteristics of surrealism.
Abstract Expressionism – the subject of painting is paint itself. It is about quality of it.
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