Hatteras

This print is one of several compositions that include the imprint of Jasper Johns’ hand and forearm. To capture his body on the stone, the artist used a mixture of soap and greasy lithographic pigment. Johns’ first experience drawing on a lithographic stone came when Tatyana Grosman, the founder of ULAE, delivered one to his studio in 1960. He quickly came to prefer working at the printshop, however, where he could learn from the technical expertise of professional printers. Lithography is notoriously finicky and complex and requires extensive technical expertise. Part of the alchemy that results from a collaboration between artist and printer is that each side tends to push the other to make new discoveries.

This print’s title is an allusion both to the beach near the studio Johns frequented in his native South Carolina and to the title of a poem by Hart Crane, who was much admired by the artist.