The Seasons [1/2 proof of cut plate "Summer"] 1990

Jasper Johns created this proof of a cut plate "Summer" using etching and aquatint, and you can see how the image emerges, shifting through trial, error, and intuition. I can imagine Johns in the studio, wrestling with the plate, inking and wiping, coaxing these ghostly forms into being. What's so striking is how the textures—the ladder, the patterned surface, the human figure—all seem to float in and out of focus. The lines are thick and thin, sometimes blurring as if he's searching for the right form, or maybe suggesting that nothing is ever really fixed. I think of other artists who play with similar ideas, like Rauschenberg with his layered silkscreens, or even Gorky, who was trying to get at something deep inside himself. There's a vulnerability in this searching, a willingness to embrace ambiguity. You get the sense that these artists were in constant dialogue, pushing each other to see and feel in new ways. And it reminds us that art isn't about answers, but about the ongoing process of questioning.