Cups 4 Picasso

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Cups 4 Picasso
by
JASPER JOHNS
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What do you see here---a vase or 2 faces? This is
a classic optical effect of negative-positive
space reversal.
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Jasper Johns work, Cups 4 Picasso, is a diptych
based on this classic effect. By using color,
Johns has focused the viewer first on one and
then the other. Visually, the cool neutral grays
recede into the background (negative space) and
the colorful rainbow gradation comes forward to
become the subject (positive space).