CHRISTIE'S SELLS JASPER JOHNS' FLAG FOR £19,476,900

THE QUALITY, SCOPE AND INNOVATIVE VISION OF THE LATE AUTHOR MICHAEL CRICHTON'S COLLECTION OF CONTEMPORARY ART COMPELLED BUYERS AT CHRISTIS'S ON 11.MAY. THE FOCAL POINT OF THE SALE WAS JASPER JOHNS; FLAG, 1960-1966, SELLING FOR £19,476,900, THE HIGHEST PRICE PAID EVER ACHIEVED FOR WORK BY JOHNS AT AUCTION. THE COLLECTION REALIZED £63,459,980 AND SOLD 100% BY LOT AND BY VALUE. FOUR BIDDERS VIED FOR THE FLAG WHICH TOOK TWO MINUTES TO SELL. THE WINNING BIDDER WAS A MEMBER OF THE US ART TRADE. COMPLETED BY JOHNS IN 1966, THE WORK, EXECUTED IN ENCAUSTIC, WAS PURCHASED BY CRICHTON OVER THIRTY YEARS AGO FROM THE ARTIST'S OWN COLLECTION OF WORKS. IT WAS LAST SEEN IN PUBLIC IN 1992 AND WAS A KEY PIECE IN THE COMPREHENSIVE AND PRIZED COLLECTION CULTIVATED BY THE BEST-SELLING AUTHOR. JOHNS' ICONIC AMERICAN FLAG SERIES IS CREDITED WITH JUMP-STARTING THE POP ART MOVEMENT; PAVING THE WAY FOR THE AVANT GARDE WORKS OF ANDY WARHOL AND ROY LICHTENSTEIN IN THE MID 1960s. THE PREVIOUS RECORD WAS FOR JOHNS' FIGURE 4,1959, ENCAUSTIC AND PRINTED PAPER COLLAGE ON CANVAS, SOLD AT CHRISTIE'S IN MAY 2005 FOR $17.4 MILLION.