Jasper Johns was born on May 15th 1930 in Augusta, Georgia. He spent his early life with his grandparents in South Carolina after the divorce of his parents and started painting at the age of 3. His grandmother painted landscapes that were hanging on the walls of several family members at home. That motivated him to continue painting. Later in his life he lived with his mother and stepfather and later his aunt. He studied art at the University of South Carolina en then moved to New York City in 1949 at Parsons School of Design. In 1951 he had to fight in the Korean War for 2 years. When he came back in the summer of 1953 he worked at Marboro Books and started to meet some artists that would form his career. These artists were: Sari Dienes, Rachel Rosenthal and Robert Rauschenberg. He started a romantic but also artistic relationship with Robert Rauschenberg until 1961. He also became influenced and worked together with choreographer Merce Cunningham and composer John Cage.

Untitled (1930)
Target with four faces (1955)

His work consists of paintings, sculptures and prints. 

English Light Bulb (1970)

He best known for his flags, maps, targets, letters and numbers. His work is abstract expressionistic but also recognized as Pop Art.

Flag (1954-1955)

Map (1961)
Savarin (1982)
American Center (1982)
Racing Thoughts (1983)

Untitled (1988)

Mind/Mirror (1988)