Jasper Johns Painting Sells for $28.6 Million, Setting Impressive Record for the Artist

Last Tuesday one of Jasper Johns' "Flag" paintings from 1960-66, which had previously belonged to the late Michael Crichton, sold at a Christie's New York postwar and contemporary art auction for $28.5 million. The painting, which sold for nearly double its high estimate of $15 million, marks a very impressive accomplishment for Johns - his highest selling painting to date.

Richard Rossello, a Bryn Mawr, PA-based art dealer of American paintings, purchased the Johns' painting (although it is not known who he bought it on behalf).

Throughout the evening, (Christie's first week of postwar and contemporary art auctions) Americans dominated the buying, as Christie's officials estimate that 75% of the buyers were American. "Flag" was one of 31 works being sold from Crichton's estate. The famed author, who died in November 2008, had met Jasper Johns during the early 1970s and bought the painting directly from the artist in 1974. The fact that the painting had just one owner (and a big named-one at that) - contributed to its high selling price.

Crichton's collection got to know most of the artists whose work he collected - including David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Rauschenberg (image, left). Last week's sale featured works by all of them.

Click HERE to read the entire story from the New York Times (including details about the other works on sale from Crichton's estate as well as information about the auction's high sellers and stats about the sale)

Click HERE to see where Jasper Johns is exhibiting around the world

"Six Decades" of Kazuo Shiraga at McCaffrey Fine Art

McCaffrey Fine Art is currently displaying Japanese artist Kazuo Shiraga's first ever solo show in the US. The exhibition, titled "Six Decades," shows paintings by the distinguished artist who uses the style of "foot painting" in his work.

A style often associated with artists who cannot use their hands (or whose hands have been amputated or otherwise destroyed), Shiraga says he first experimented with this method in order to go beyond (the already complex) style of Abstract Expressionism. He has used foot art since the 1950s (hence the title of the exhibition).

The avant-garde artist sought inspiration from Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly, Yves Klein and Jackson Pollock during the 50s - but developed his own unique methods of placing large sheets of paper on the floor, then sliding, spinning, and swirling his feet into heaps of boldly colored oil paint and letting his feet and mind create masterful paintings.

Although the artist's work has been included in various museums' surveys of Japanese Art throughout the United States in the past few decades, he has remained largely unknown in the American Art World until now. The current exhibition at McCaffrey Fine Art also accompanies the first in-depth publication on Shiraga's work in English.



To read more about the artist, his influences, and past exhibitions, click here.