The artwork titled “Bread” was created by the artist Jasper Johns in 1969. It is recognized as a work of the Pop Art movement and falls under the genre of figurative art. “Bread” exemplifies Johns’s penchant for depicting everyday objects, interrogating their significance through the lens of art.
The artwork presents a seemingly simple subject—a slice of bread—centrally placed against a muted, monochromatic background. The bread itself is rendered with an emphasis on texture and color that stands in contrast to the flat, austere backdrop, drawing the viewer’s focus to the ordinariness yet iconic status of the depicted object. The figurative nature of the piece, depicting a recognizable item, is juxtaposed with the abstract quality of the background, examplifying the paradoxical complexities often explored within Pop Art. Through this work, Johns engages with themes of consumerism, mass production, and the elevation of mundane subjects to the realm of fine art—a characteristic approach of Pop Art that sought to challenge traditional art hierarchies and aesthetic standards.
