Perilous Night by Jasper Johns

Perilous Night detail by Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns, Perilous Night (detail of sheet music), 1982, encaustic on canvas with objects, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Collection 1995.79.1

The title, Perilous Night, has several connections. Johns took the name from a piano composition written by his friend, the avant-garde composer John Cage. "The Perilous Night" is considered to be one of Cage's most emotional works, about "the loneliness and terror that comes to one when love becomes unhappy." Cage took the title from ancient and medieval myths about a bed placed on a floor of polished jasper. Did Johns adapt the title because of the pun on his own name?

There are more references in the picture to a "perilous night." The Isenheim Altarpiece depicts the night—frightening and awe-inspiring—when Christ was resurrected. Those familiar with Johns' famous paintings of the American flag might also think of the "Star-Spangled Banner," which describes how the flag survived a perilous "fight."

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