Jasper Johns stands as an important bridge between abstract expressionism and pop and minimal art. Printmaking has long been an important part of the process for the artist, seamlessly relating with his painting and drawing practice.

A profound representation of this relationship comes from Regrets, a cohesive group of paintings, drawings, and prints which were on view at The Museum of Modern Art in the 2014 exhibition "Jasper Johns: Regrets." Here the artist employed a wide range of techniques and mediums in a short 18-month span, culminating in a harmonious body of work that derived from a photograph reproduction of the artist Lucian Freud.

The Regrets prints came from exploring the visual motif Johns previously worked through in the drawings and paintings. Through the use of traditional etching techniques, Johns was able to achieve variation in tone, mark making and erasure on both plates. The two editions printed on white paper appeared in the exhibition at MoMA. Johns later collaborated with ULAE director Bill Goldston on the three editions printed on black paper.

While Regrets marks the first series of works from Johns to be entirely based on one photograph, the nature of exploring visual motifs and the connection between material and representation are hallmark characteristics found throughout his work over the last sixty-seven years.