Jasper Johns' seminal work "Flag" from the collection of the late best-selling author Michael Crichton sold for $28.6 million at a New York City auction Tuesday, an auction record for the artist.
Christie's said the work was purchased by an American art dealer during high-spirited bidding Tuesday night by phone and in the room. There were four bidders for the work, which took two minutes to sell, Christie's said.
The previous Johns' auction record was $17.4 million for "Figure 4," in 2007.
"This fabulous painting is a tribute to the great collector Michael Crichton who showed us all how to enjoy and collect art for future generations," Brett Gorvy, international co-head of post war and contemporary art at Christie's, said in an e-mail.
"Flag" was the crown jewel of Crichton's collection.
The popular writer of such blockbuster thrillers as "Jurassic Park," "The Andromeda Strain" and the TV series "ER" died in 2008. He was a passionate art collector, leaving a 20th century art trove of some of pop art's best known artists, including Roy Lichtenstein, Claes ldenburg, Jeff Koons and Pablo Picasso, among others.
The sale featured 31 pieces, which sold for $93.3 million. Another 117 works from the collection will be sold Wednesday as part of Christie's post war and contemporary art sale.
Christie's catalog called "Flag" "one of the greatest icons of modern art alongside Picasso's 'Guernica' and Andy Warhol's 'Marilyn.'"
A 1960 encaustic and paper collage rendition of the stars and stripes, Crichton bought it from Johns in 1973 and hung it in his Beverly Hills bedroom. It has been exhibited only once for a pop art survey at the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 1992-1993.
Crichton generously lent works from his collection for exhibitions, but was possessive about the "Flag" because of his close friendship with Johns, said Gorvy in an interview before the sale.
Because of Crichton's deep understanding of Johns' work, Johns asked Crichton to write the catalog for his 1977 retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.
Within the art world, Crichton was renowned as a leading authority on Johns, Gorvy said.
He had predicted that "Flag" would "go substantially higher" than its pre-sale estimate of $10 million to $15 million, given that the work "is so superb and rare ... and coming from a famous fella and also from someone who understood the artist."
Richard Feigen, an art dealer with galleries in New York and Chicago specializing in 19th and 20th century art and old masters, said before the auction that he believed monied collectors would bid high as a hedge against the economy.
"I rather think that the activity in the stock market will probably stimulate people to put more money into art because art ... now seems to be treated as an asset class and as a safe repository for money and also a hedge against currency fluctuations," Feigen said.
"My guess is people will feel this is a very safe place, if not a dynamic place, to park $30 million more or less." he added.
Last week, "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust," a 1932 Picasso painting of his mistress, set a world record for any work of art at auction when it sold for $106.5 million at Christie's New York.
Christie's head of impressionist and modern art, Conor Jordan, said the price "showed the great confidence in the marketplace and the enthusiasm with which it welcomes top quality works."
Among other highlights in the Crichton collection:
• Oldenburg's 1970 "Three Way Plug Soft Sculpture," estimated at $250,000 to $350,000.
• Lichtenstein's "Girl in Water," estimated at $800,000 to $1.2 million, and
• Robert Rauschenberg's "Studio Painting," estimated at $6 million to $9 million.
Crichton was one of the world's most commercially successful writers whose many books have been turned into film. nike and addias
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Tuesday, May 11, 2010
W.Va. congressman's 28-year run ends in primary
Democrat Alan Mollohan became the first member of the U.S. House to be ousted this spring primary season after his opponent mounted a campaign that questioned the 14-term congressman's ethics and support for federal health care reform.
Mollohan conceded Tuesday night, ending nearly 28 years in the House. Unofficial returns showed that with 100 percent of precincts reporting, state Sen. Mike Oliverio carried 56 percent of the votes to Mollohan's 44 percent.
The more conservative Oliverio ran an aggressive campaign, portraying Mollohan as corrupt and out of touch. Conservative media rallied around the 46-year-old financial adviser from Morgantown, as did anti-abortion groups angry over Mollohan's support of health care reform.
Mollohan, 66, said his defeat was proof that negative campaigns still work and called Oliverio's attacks "totally spurious and totally false." But he acknowledged that he faced a "strong headwind" because of the national political climate, voter discontent and anti-incumbent sentiment.
That mood also helped end the 17-year career of Utah Republican Sen. Bob Bennett, who lost a GOP convention on Saturday.
"It's true there is definitely a wave out there, a national mood and wave," Mollohan said after his defeat.
Midterm congressional elections are referendums, he said, "and if people are not feeling good about what's happening, if they don't agree with legislation or they just are concerned, they express it."
Mollohan stood by his record, but acknowledged to about 150 supporters that he could have been marketed better.
Oliverio said his campaign worked because it focused on fiscal responsibility and personal integrity.
"We announcedour campaign 100 days ago, and in 100 days' time our country has fallen one-third of a trillion dollars further into debt. We have to get the country's financial house in order, and that's what we're committed to doing," he said.
Oliverio will face David McKinley, a former state Republican Party chairman and state House member, in November's general election.
McKinley said he was not surprised by Mollohan's ouster because "people just didn't like what was happening in Washington."
The outcome is a referendum on President Barack Obama and his policies, from bailouts of banks and takeovers of car companies to health care reform, he said.
"It's clear this is not the agenda they wanted. This wasn't the change they envisioned," McKinley said of West Virginia voters. "I think this is what this campaign is going to become in the fall."
For his part, Mollohan insisted that most of his constituents wanted the health care reform he has championed for years. He said he works hard to ensure no public funds are used for abortions and is confident the legislation achieved that, even though the National Right to Life Political Action Committee endorsed Oliverio.
Mollohan was first elected in 1982. He ran a relatively lethargic campaign until recent weeks, when he began airing TV ads calling Oliverio dangerously conservative and bad for business and labor. Oliverio had campaigned aggressively since entering the race in January.
Mollohan dismissed the attacks as a smear campaign that began four years ago when he refused to let House Republicans undermine ethics committee rules to try to protect former Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas.
In 2006, the Justice Department opened an investigation of Mollohan that is believed to have focused on the rapid growth of his personal wealth and his pattern of securing federal funds for nonprofits he helped create.
Mollohan stepped down as the ranking Democrat on the House ethics committee that April and stepped aside in early 2007 from a subcommittee that handles funding for the Justice Department.
The investigation ended in January without comment or charges — which Mollohan considered vindication.
The ethics probe was also a focal point of the Republican effort to defeat Mollohan in 2006, but he carried 64 percent of the vote over GOP challenger Chris Wakim. In 2008, Mollohan went unopposed.smile
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Mollohan conceded Tuesday night, ending nearly 28 years in the House. Unofficial returns showed that with 100 percent of precincts reporting, state Sen. Mike Oliverio carried 56 percent of the votes to Mollohan's 44 percent.
The more conservative Oliverio ran an aggressive campaign, portraying Mollohan as corrupt and out of touch. Conservative media rallied around the 46-year-old financial adviser from Morgantown, as did anti-abortion groups angry over Mollohan's support of health care reform.
Mollohan, 66, said his defeat was proof that negative campaigns still work and called Oliverio's attacks "totally spurious and totally false." But he acknowledged that he faced a "strong headwind" because of the national political climate, voter discontent and anti-incumbent sentiment.
That mood also helped end the 17-year career of Utah Republican Sen. Bob Bennett, who lost a GOP convention on Saturday.
"It's true there is definitely a wave out there, a national mood and wave," Mollohan said after his defeat.
Midterm congressional elections are referendums, he said, "and if people are not feeling good about what's happening, if they don't agree with legislation or they just are concerned, they express it."
Mollohan stood by his record, but acknowledged to about 150 supporters that he could have been marketed better.
Oliverio said his campaign worked because it focused on fiscal responsibility and personal integrity.
"We announcedour campaign 100 days ago, and in 100 days' time our country has fallen one-third of a trillion dollars further into debt. We have to get the country's financial house in order, and that's what we're committed to doing," he said.
Oliverio will face David McKinley, a former state Republican Party chairman and state House member, in November's general election.
McKinley said he was not surprised by Mollohan's ouster because "people just didn't like what was happening in Washington."
The outcome is a referendum on President Barack Obama and his policies, from bailouts of banks and takeovers of car companies to health care reform, he said.
"It's clear this is not the agenda they wanted. This wasn't the change they envisioned," McKinley said of West Virginia voters. "I think this is what this campaign is going to become in the fall."
For his part, Mollohan insisted that most of his constituents wanted the health care reform he has championed for years. He said he works hard to ensure no public funds are used for abortions and is confident the legislation achieved that, even though the National Right to Life Political Action Committee endorsed Oliverio.
Mollohan was first elected in 1982. He ran a relatively lethargic campaign until recent weeks, when he began airing TV ads calling Oliverio dangerously conservative and bad for business and labor. Oliverio had campaigned aggressively since entering the race in January.
Mollohan dismissed the attacks as a smear campaign that began four years ago when he refused to let House Republicans undermine ethics committee rules to try to protect former Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas.
In 2006, the Justice Department opened an investigation of Mollohan that is believed to have focused on the rapid growth of his personal wealth and his pattern of securing federal funds for nonprofits he helped create.
Mollohan stepped down as the ranking Democrat on the House ethics committee that April and stepped aside in early 2007 from a subcommittee that handles funding for the Justice Department.
The investigation ended in January without comment or charges — which Mollohan considered vindication.
The ethics probe was also a focal point of the Republican effort to defeat Mollohan in 2006, but he carried 64 percent of the vote over GOP challenger Chris Wakim. In 2008, Mollohan went unopposed.smile
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