1. Introduction and Core Concept
Created in 1959, Thermometer by Jasper Johns is a landmark piece of American post-war art. Measuring 51 ¾ × 38 ½ inches, this work combines traditional oil painting with an actual, functioning mechanical thermometer mounted down the center of the canvas. By integrating a live measuring device, Johns directly ties the static canvas to real-time environmental changes, blurring the distinction between fine art and utilitarian object.
2. Materials and Medium Breakdown
The construction of Thermometer falls within mixed media and assemblage. Johns applied oil paint onto a split canvas joined together along a vertical axis to house the physical temperature gauge. Rather than painting an illustration of a instrument, he used a real tool—a practice that challenges the traditional view of a painting as a purely two-dimensional surface.
3. Gesture Versus Measurement
Visually, the painting creates a dynamic tension between freehand artistic gesture and cold industrial accuracy. Swaths of gestural paint line the canvas, accompanied by stenciled numerical markings that mirror degree scales. By placing expressive, hand-applied paint alongside a factory-made instrument, Johns contrasts human touch with standardized measurement, raising fundamental questions about the nature of artistic expression.
4. The Role of Real Time and Environment
Unlike traditional artworks that represent a single fixed point in history, Thermometer actively responds to its immediate surroundings. As room temperatures shift within a gallery setting, the fluid or mechanical indicators inside the gauge physically move. This causes the work to continuously transform in real time, making the physical climate of the exhibition space an active component of the piece.
5. Neo-Dada and the Shift to Pop Art
In the late 1950s, Johns—alongside contemporaries such as Robert Rauschenberg—helped lead the Neo-Dada movement. This phase was critical in bridging Abstract Expressionism with early Pop Art, Conceptualism, and Minimalism. By incorporating everyday "found objects" into his canvases, Johns departed from the emotional grandiosity of earlier abstractionists and refocused attention on common, real-world objects.
6. Artist Background: Jasper Johns
Born in South Carolina in 1930, Jasper Johns became one of the most prominent figures in 20th-century art. He gained widespread recognition in the mid-1950s for his depictions of recognizable symbols—including flags, targets, numbers, and maps—that he famously described as "things the mind already knows". His work pushed boundaries regarding how viewers perceive everyday visual symbols and everyday materials.
7. Museum Location and Legacy
Thermometer resides in the permanent collection of the Seattle Art Museum as a gift of the Virginia and Bagley Wright Collection. It remains a celebrated example of Johns's late-1950s breakthroughs, serving as a key reference point in modern art history for the integration of real-world mechanics into fine art.
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