Jasper Johns 'Flag' Encaustic Goes for $28.6 Million at Auction

Well some lucky rich fellow's got taste.

At NYT, "Seminal Jasper Johns Painting Draws $28.6 Million Bid":

One of Jasper Johns’s seminal Flag paintings, from 1960-1966, that had belonged to Michael Crichton, the best-selling writer, became the star of Christie’s post-war and contemporary art auction on Tuesday night when it brought $28.6 million ....

The buyer was Richard Rossello, a dealer in American paintings based in Bryn Mawr, Pa., who could be seen with a cell phone glued to his ear during the bidding.

The Johns flag, in encaustic, an ancient technique in which pigment is suspended in wax, giving each brush stroke a distinct materiality, is a hot commodity in auction circles because few ever come for sale. And on Tuesday night five other bidders tried to buy the painting, which had been officially estimated to bring $10 million to $15 million.

RTWT.

Image Credit: Wikipedia, "Flag, Encaustic, oil and collage on fabric mounted on plywood,1954-55."