by Carol Vogel<\/p>\n
Published in NY Times March 18, 2010<\/p>\n
Less than two months before Christie\u2019s will be selling one of Jasper Johns\u2019s signature \u201cFlag\u201d paintings, the hedge fund billionaire Steven A. Cohen privately scooped up a larger and earlier example of that artist\u2019s seminal image. He bought it from Jean-Christophe Castelli, son of Leo Castelli, Mr. Johns\u2019s legendary dealer. The younger Mr. Castelli inherited the painting from his father, who died in 1999.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can confirm that Steve Cohen bought the \u2018Flag\u2019 painting,\u201d said Sandy Heller, Mr. Cohen\u2019s art adviser. Thomas C. Danziger, Mr. Castelli\u2019s lawyer, also confirmed the sale, adding that the terms of the deal were \u201cstrictly confidential.\u201d<\/p>\n
While no one will discuss the price, art experts who have heard details of the transaction say Mr. Cohen paid about $110 million.<\/p>\n
The painting was executed in 1958 and was so coveted by the dealer that he never sold it. It hung in his Manhattan home until his death. For years before the sale, the younger Mr. Castelli lent the work to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, where it was on view.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s beautifully rendered,\u201d said Brett Gorvy, a co-head of Christie\u2019s postwar and contemporary art department and deputy chairman of Christie\u2019s in America. Alongside other masterpieces that Mr. Cohen has purchased over the years \u2014 including Willem de Kooning\u2019s \u201cWoman III,\u201d a 1952-53 canvas that he bought in 2006 from the entertainment mogul David Geffen, for roughly $137.5 million, and Andy Warhol\u2019s 1964 \u201cTurquoise Marilyn,\u201d bought from the Chicago collector Stefan Edlis for around $80 million in 2007 \u2014 he now has what Mr. Gorvy described as \u201cthe most comprehensive collection of American postwar images in private hands.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the \u201cFlag\u201d that Christie\u2019s is selling also comes with a pristine provenance \u2014 it had been owned by the writer Michael Crichton, who bought it directly from Mr. Johns in 1974 \u2014 it is half the size of the one Mr. Cohen bought. \u201cThis transaction propels the Crichton painting to a higher level,\u201d Mr. Gorvy said, adding that the only other important \u201cFlag\u201d in private hands is owned by Mr. Geffen. The Cohen sale \u201conly adds to its rarity.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Carol Vogel Published in NY Times March 18, 2010 Less than two months before Christie\u2019s will be selling one of Jasper Johns\u2019s signature \u201cFlag\u201d paintings, the hedge fund billionaire Steven A. Cohen privately scooped up a larger and earlier example of that artist\u2019s seminal image. He bought it from Jean-Christophe Castelli, son of Leo … <\/p>\n