Jasper Johns (b.1930) is regarded as one of the most influential American artists of the last sixty years. Johns and his lover Robert Rauschenberg established a decisive new direction in an art world that had been dominated by the Abstract Expressionists.  In this handsomely illustrated study, skilled writers examine Johns's pioneering oeuvre and offer a detailed overview of the career and international significance of this subtlest of craftsmen. "His work speaks to the sense that truth is never certain or static, especially for things like nationhood.... Johns introduces these complicated ideas in a self-assured yet vernacular style unmatched by any of the American avant-gardists working in the latter half of the 20th century." -Apollo Magazine, Matthew Holman