The Guggenheim between two worlds: Abu Dhabi opens, Bilbao celebrates Jasper Johns

The retrospective ‘Jasper Johns: Night Driver’ – as the museum explains – is supported by a mixed funding model, combining the museum’s own resources and private sponsorship, whilst maintaining complete curatorial independence. The Guggenheim does not disclose either the budget or the visitor targets, emphasising instead the growing organisational complexity of major international exhibitions, where transport, insurance and loans now represent one of the main cost items. Organised in collaboration with the artist’s studio and the lending institutions, the exhibition is sponsored by the BBVA Foundation. It brings together around 140 works, including paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, an artist’s book and a scenographic project, offering a comprehensive overview of more than sixty years of artistic exploration.

Jasper Johns. Diana (Target), 1961. Encaustico e collage su tela. 167,6 x 167,6 cm. The Art Institute of Chicago. Donazione della Edlis Neeson Collection. © Jasper Johns, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2026

The journey begins with a decisive turning point: between 1954 and 1955, Johns destroyed most of his earlier works and painted his first famous ‘American Flag’, ushering in a series of works based on universal images – flags, targets, numbers and maps – which would foreshadow Pop Art. Moving away from the emphasis of Abstract Expressionism, Johns developed a minimalist and restrained visual language, capable of combining formal rigour with emotional intensity, and exerting a decisive influence on the subsequent movements of Minimalism and Conceptual Art. The title, ‘Night Driver’, draws on a drawing the artist produced in 1960 and serves as the key to understanding a creative journey that highlights the continuity and extraordinary coherence of his artistic practice.

More than seventy years after the debut of his famous ‘Flags’, Jasper Johns remains one of the pillars of the post-war international art market. His output is relatively modest; many key works are held in the collections of major American museums, and the availability of early paintings on the market is increasingly limited: a combination that sustains high values and constant demand from major collectors.

The artist’s record dates back to 2010, when ‘Flag’, 1958, was sold privately for around 110 million dollars to the billionaire Steven A. Cohen. The painting came from the collection of the artist’s long-standing gallerist, Leo Castelli. 

At auction, however, the record is held by ‘Small False Start’, 1960, which sold at Christie’s in 2022 for $55.3 million from the collection of Paul G. Allen. The sale of the collection belonging to S.I. Newhouse in May 2026 was particularly significant: ‘Gray Target’ fetched $28.8 million, whilst ‘Figure 2’ was sold for $8.9 million – results which demonstrate how historic works continue to attract international competition, albeit with a greater focus on quality and provenance.

Alongside his paintings, the market for his prints also remains highly vibrant. Johns is regarded as one of the great innovators of contemporary printmaking, and his prints – particularly the series featuring flags, targets and numbers – represent one of the most liquid segments of his market. The rarest prints can fetch over a million dollars, as demonstrated by ‘Flags I’ (1973), which sold for $1.68 million at Christie’s, whilst the more affordable range of lithographs and screen prints continues to fuel international collecting.

In a market that, over the past two years, has primarily favoured ‘blue-chip’ artists, Jasper Johns is a prime example: an artist now firmly established in art history, bolstered by the scarcity of his works in museums, global demand and a critical reputation that continues to translate into financial stability.