Untitled

“The title Ventriloquist is an apt characterization for a great deal of the painting. Whether the fictional whale with its mouth open wide is considered a ventriloquist’s dummy or Newman’s image is understood as the vehicle by which the artist reveals himself and a traditionally American viewpoint, Johns is describing a general phenomenon in which things are not what they appear to be and may have origins elsewhere. We cannot even assume that there are just two players in each of these subtle dramas, although the German vase, with its pair of profiles in silhouette, and the clearly demarcated diptych may imply only two ‘voices.’ Just as there is a shadowy third silhouette on the porcelain itself, there may be a third persona, that of the characteristically silent ventriloquist himself ‘behind’ the canvas. The unseen ‘voice’ can be ‘heard’ speculating on the practices of art.” (M. Rosenthal, Jasper Johns: Work Since 1974, exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 1988, p. 75)