Jasper Johns flag piece sells for record $36 million

One of contemporary artist Jasper Johns’ well-known pieces depicting an American flag sold at auction for a record $36 million, far exceeding predictions of $20 million, Sothebys announced. The 30x45 cm piece entitled “Flag” was painted in 1983 by Georgia-born Johns, who is now 84. The artist’s previous record was $28.6 million — also for one of his flags — back in 2010. The other star of the night was Mark Rothko’s abstract “No. 21 (Red, Brown, Black and Orange)” which sold for $44.96 million as collectors jostled for control of the work by the Latvian-born American painter.

Arts flag painting