Flag (painting) facts for kids
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Flag is a very famous painting by American artist Jasper Johns. He created it when he was 24 years old, in 1954–55. Johns has said that this painting, and many others like it, were inspired by a dream he had about the U.S. flag. Many people consider Flag to be his most well-known artwork.
What is Flag?
The painting is about 107 centimeters (42 inches) tall and 153 centimeters (60 inches) wide. It's made using a special painting method called encaustic, which uses heated wax mixed with colors. Johns also used oil paint and pieces of newspaper glued onto three separate canvases. These canvases are then attached to a wooden board.
The painting shows the U.S. flag with its classic red, white, and blue colors. It looks like the flag did between 1912 and 1959. This means it has 48 white stars on a blue square, representing the states at that time (before Alaska and Hawaii joined). It also has thirteen red and white stripes.
If you look closely, you can see newspaper print underneath the stripes. Jasper Johns didn't just pick any newspaper. He carefully chose articles that weren't important headlines or political news. He used everyday stories or advertisements instead. The painting has a rough surface, and each of the 48 stars is a little different.
Johns chose the U.S. flag because it's a familiar object that everyone recognizes. It has a simple shape but also a deep meaning. Johns liked to paint "things the mind already knows." He felt that using a well-known object like the flag allowed him to focus on how he painted it, rather than having to invent a new design.
People weren't sure if it was a real flag or a painting of a flag. Johns later said it was both! His art is sometimes called Neo-Dadaist, which means it's a bit like the Dada art movement that challenged traditional art. His work also helped start other art styles like pop art, minimal art, and conceptual art.
How Flag Became Famous
Flag was first shown in Jasper Johns's very first art show in 1958 at the Leo Castelli Gallery. Alfred Barr, who was in charge of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City, really wanted to buy the painting. However, he was worried that some people might think buying a painting of the flag was disrespectful or "unpatriotic."
So, Barr asked his friend Philip Johnson, who was also an important art collector, to buy it instead. Johnson bought the painting and later gave it to the Museum of Modern Art in 1968. He donated it to honor Alfred Barr when Barr retired.
Other Flag Paintings
Jasper Johns has created more than 40 artworks based on the U.S. flag. Some of his other famous flag paintings include a large, all-white painting called White Flag from 1955. He also made Three Flags in 1958, which shows three flags stacked on top of each other, with a total of 84 stars.
His 48-star Flag painting from 1958 was bought in 2010 for an estimated $110 million. This made it one of the most expensive paintings ever sold by an artist who was still alive at the time. Another encaustic Flag painting from 1983 was sold for $36 million in 2014.
