Usuyuki

1979

In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

View by appointment

Artist: Jasper Johns born 1930
Medium: Lithograph on paper
Dimensions: Image: 695 x 1124 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Purchased 1980
Reference: P07399

Catalogue entry

P07399 USUYUKI 1979

Inscribed ‘J Johns 79’ bottom right and ‘25/ 49’
Lithograph, printed and published by Universal Limited Art Editions, New York, 27 3/4×44 3/4 (69.5×112.3)
Purchased from Universal Limited Art Editions (Grant-in-Aid) 1980

One of a group of works of the same title. This print is related to the painting ‘Usuyuki’ 1977–8 (encaustic and collage); it is in three panels, each divided by two verticals and two horizontals (i.e. into ninths). Besides the ‘hatching’ image, here in soft tusche strokes, this print contains a spectrum colour blend line (like that in ‘Decoy’) which would be continuous but is laid in section across each panel (starting at upper left and finishing at lower right). Other traceable concomitants are that each panel would curl into a continuous cylinder and that the bottom right two-ninths of the left and centre panels correspond to the upper left two-ninths of the centre and right hand panels respectively, implying a larger ‘unseen’ or overlapped area blended into the overall image.

Published in:
The Tate Gallery 1980-82: Illustrated Catalogue of Acquisitions, London 1984