The Critic Smiles
- Date
- 1969
- Classification
- Metalwork, sculpture
- Collection
- Modern and Contemporary Art
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 246
- Dimensions
- 23 × 17 in. (58.4 × 43.2 cm)
framed: 23 1/4 × 17 1/4 × 1 1/2 in. (59.1 × 43.8 × 3.8 cm) - Credit Line
- Bequest of Dr. William Merwin
- Rights
- © Jasper Johns and Gemini G.E.L. / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Published by Gemini G.E.L.
- Object Number
- 46:2023
NOTES
Familiar objects, like this toothbrush, are the foundation of Jasper Johns’s art. However, in an unexpected twist, the artist replaced the bristles with gold dental crowns commissioned from an actual dentist. Johns here suggests his disapproval of art critics, who he considered played an outsized role in determining taste. He stated in an interview, “When the critic smiles, it’s a lopsided smile with hidden meanings. And of course a smile involves baring the teeth.” Johns’s image highlights his characteristically witty humor.
Provenance
1998
auctioned at Sotheby's New York, "Contemporary Prints", lot 1096, May 2, 1998
by 2005 - 2023
Dr. William Merwin, St. Louis, MO [1]
2023 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of William D. Merwin [2]
Notes:
[1] Art Struck: The William D. Merwin Collection, exhibition brochure, St. Louis University Museum of Art [SLAM document files]
[2] Supplemental Amendment to the Trust Agreement of William D. Merwin to Dispose of Tangible Personal Property, dated March 6, 2018 [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, September 18, 2023.
auctioned at Sotheby's New York, "Contemporary Prints", lot 1096, May 2, 1998
by 2005 - 2023
Dr. William Merwin, St. Louis, MO [1]
2023 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of William D. Merwin [2]
Notes:
[1] Art Struck: The William D. Merwin Collection, exhibition brochure, St. Louis University Museum of Art [SLAM document files]
[2] Supplemental Amendment to the Trust Agreement of William D. Merwin to Dispose of Tangible Personal Property, dated March 6, 2018 [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, September 18, 2023.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.