Raising The 'Flag'

Crystal Bridges flies newly acquired Jasper Johns work

Louise Bourgeois’ bronze, stainless steel and marble sculpture “Maman,” made in 1999, stands 30 feet 5 inches by 29 feet 3 inches by 33 feet 7 inches. The work was photographed here while on display at Tate Modern in London, but will join the Crystal Bridges Collection later this year. Image licensed by VAGA.
Louise Bourgeois’ bronze, stainless steel and marble sculpture “Maman,” made in 1999, stands 30 feet 5 inches by 29 feet 3 inches by 33 feet 7 inches. The work was photographed here while on display at Tate Modern in London, but will join the Crystal Bridges Collection later this year. Image licensed by VAGA.

After Jasper Johns made his first "Flag," he destroyed all of his previous work. He knew the subject and his approach to that piece had changed him as an artist.

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Courtesy Photo

This Jasper Johns work, “Flag,” debuted June 13 at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville. The work — encaustic on a silk flag on canvas — was created in 1983.

He would revisit the idea of flag imagery many times in his long and long-discussed career. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art now owns one of the examples. His 1983 "Flag," made by applying wax-like encaustic material over an actual silk flag, officially joined the museum's permanent collection on June 13. The work was purchased at Sotheby's Auction House in November for $36 million, a price that included the premium. That figure made "Flag," about the size of a legal pad, the highest-priced Johns work ever sold.

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In addition to the unveiling of the Jasper Johns piece “Flag,” officials at Crystal Bridges have also announced the acquisition of four works by Louise Bourgeois. One of the works, “Quarantania,” a bronze and stainless steel sculpture, can already been found in the museum’s 1940s to Now art gallery. Other works, including the massive spider sculpture “Mamet,” pictured, will debut later this year. The other Bourgeois works acquired by Crystal Bridges include “Connecticutiana” from 1944-45 and “Untitled” from 1947.

FAQ

Jasper Johns’ ‘Flag’

WHEN — Daily except Tuesdays

WHERE — Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville

COST — Free

INFO — 418-5700 or crystalbridges.org

"It's one of the last important 'Flag' works," says Chad Alligood, a curator at Crystal Bridges. And it's one of the few to come up for sale. This particular work had been acquired directly from the artist the year it was made and had remained in the same private collection since then.

Interest in the work was high -- higher than expected, Alligood says. Museum members could book tickets to the unveiling, and all 60 reservations were quickly claimed.

Because the blend of wax and pigment cements itself almost immediately, the large strokes and various colors of "Flag" can be seen under close inspection. There are at least three distinct reds and three unique blues. Also of note are the 48 stars, not 50. That's a nod to the first "Flag" work Johns created in 1954-55, before Alaska and Hawaii joined the United States.

The details are important. Small pieces of the flag can be seen under the layers of encaustic, and a drip of white cascades down into a red stripe, a small moment of intentional chaos.

Crystal Bridges also possesses another Johns work, "Alphabets," made in 1960-62. It features letters pressed into paper, eventually mounted on to canvas. Like "Flag," "Alphabets" focuses on the mundane while adding layers both physical and representational.

"He's also interested in getting you to look again at things you take for granted," Alligood says.

"Flag" currently resides in an alcove just inside the Colonial Gallery, where it can be seen for the immediate future. The image will then go on display elsewhere in the permanent collection.

NAN What's Up on 07/17/2015

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