Jasper Johns - False Start

Geffen verkaufte 2006 das Bild an den Hedgefonds-Manager Kenneth C. Griffin für 80

Mio $, was zu diesem Zeitpunkt der höchste jemals erzielte Preis für ein Werk eines

lebenden Künstlers war. False Start ist eins der populärsten Bilder von Jasper Johns

und wird in unzähligen Prints oder als handgemalte Kopie im Internethandel

angeboten.

Explosive picture; it seems to be blowing itself apart in a pyrotechnic display.

Brushstrokes are large; color is riotous; composition is not predetermined by a

recognizable image. The picture lacks the calm, dignified repose of Johns' earlier

paintings; it appears nervous, risky, unsure of itself. Most striking, False Start does not

seem to use color; it is about color. Johns says he was sitting in the Cedar Tavern, a

bar favored by artist of the time, when he saw a racing print titled "False Start"; he

took that for the name of his own painting.

The stenciled labels for colors draw attention, since these are often "wrong" - the

word GRAY is painted in red letters on a patch of yellow, and so on. Much critical

commentary has been devoted to the contradictions inherent in this mislabeling. The

commentary itself is paradoxical; nearly everyone begins by saying the device is

uninteresting, and then discusses it at length.