Guerra 1 - California State University, Sacramento
Guerra 1 - California State University, Sacramento
Guerra 1 - California State University, Sacramento
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perceived sincerity practically impossible. The exploration of this idea is evident in<br />
Rauschenberg’s Factum I and Factum II<br />
(1957) [Figure 3], and Johns’ False Start<br />
(1959) [Figure 4]. In Rauschenberg’s Factum<br />
I and Factum II (1957), this fabricated sincerity<br />
is executed in the duplication of strokes and<br />
gestures, making their spontaneity obviously<br />
impossible. 18 The same sort of impossible<br />
sincerity is evident in Johns’ False Start<br />
(1959), an “Abstract Expressionist color field<br />
4) Jasper Johns, False Start, 1959. Oil on<br />
canvas170.8 x 137.2 cm (67 1/4 x 54 in.)<br />
Private collection, New York.<br />
<strong>Guerra</strong> 6<br />
3) Robert Rauschenberg, Factum I and Factum II, 1957. Combine<br />
paintings. 155.9 x 90.2 cm (61 3/8 x 35 1/2 in.). Museum of Modern Art,<br />
New York.<br />
labeled with unmatched color names.” 19 The field itself is seemingly expressionist and spur-of-the-<br />
moment, but the carefully stenciled words, discordant to their<br />
respective colors, mock “emotional authenticity,” and create “an<br />
Abstract Expressionist picture that is manifestly untrue.” 20 The<br />
almost camp-like humor of this brave confrontation of Abstract<br />
Expressionism is highly Rauschenberg, the older artist being the<br />
more outgoing, humorous individual. Rauschenberg and Johns,<br />
having “moved out of Abstract Expressionism” together, began<br />
their departure with a rejection of the representation of the artist’s<br />
18 Barbara Rose, “Pop Art at the Guggenheim,” in Steven H. Madoff, Pop Art: A Critical History,<br />
83.<br />
19 Katz in Chadwick, 204.<br />
20 Ibid.