Jasper Johns: Ideas in Paint.

• Author: Rothenberg, Robert S.

Tales of famous artists living lives of near starvation and miserable poverty, only to have their paintings command mind-boggling prices after their deaths, are well-known. In the case of Jasper Johns, however, no charity was necessary, his works selling for the highest prices of any living artist. For example, "White Flag" was auctioned for $6,400,000 at Christie's in 1988. This record lasted just one day, as "False Start" went for $17,000,000 at Sotherby's less than 24 hours later.

John's signature subjects--American flags, targets, maps, and numbers--flow across the screen as fellow artists Frank Stella and Robert Rauschenburg, composer John Cage, and choreographer Merce Cunningham reminisce about their friend and colleague. His influence in the art world as one of the leaders in realism replacing abstractionism is outlined by leading critics and collectors, but it is in his own words that Johns comes most vigorously to...