Figure 3

Figure 3 is a significant color lithograph created in 1969 through the collaboration of artist Jasper Johns, master printers Charles Ritt and Richard Wilke, and the influential Los Angeles workshop Gemini G.E.L. This American print, executed on high-quality Arjomari wove paper, exemplifies Johns's intensive engagement with printmaking during the fertile artistic period spanning 1951 to 1975. The piece is a product of the mid-century print renaissance, demonstrating the technical sophistication and experimentation fostered by professional ateliers like G.E.L.

Johns is known for his systematic examination of common, two-dimensional symbols and numbers, using them as foundational elements for complex compositions that challenge visual perception. The title, suggesting the numerical subject matter, anchors the work in the artist’s established practice of using recognizable figures to explore the limits of abstraction and representation. In this specific print, Johns utilizes the layering potential of the color lithograph medium, building up fragmented textures and lines that achieve a visual density characteristic of his contemporaneous paintings. The integration of stenciled elements, implied by the use of numerical forms, showcases the artist’s method of merging mechanical reproduction with individual handwork.

The quality of the prints produced at Gemini G.E.L. during this era was crucial to Johns’s output. The meticulous involvement of technicians like Ritt and Wilke allowed the artist to exploit complex registration techniques and subtle variations in color application, pushing the technical boundaries of what lithography could achieve. This commitment to technical excellence ensured that the finished piece, like many of the significant works produced at G.E.L., holds a prominent place in the study of postwar graphic art. This influential work is held in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.