(New York, born 1930)
Flag (Moratorium) (U.L.A.E. S5), 1969, edition 37/300, signed lower right "Jasper Johns", Committee Against the War in Vietnam, publisher, offset lithograph printed in colors on wove paper, image 17-1/8 x 25-7/8 in. (43.2 x 65.7 cm.), sheet 20-1/8 x 28-5/8 in. (51.4 x 72.7 cm.); aluminum frame, 25-7/8 x 34-1/2 in.

Note: Commissioned by Leo Castelli, this lithograph became a poignant symbol of anti war sentiment expressed in the Moratorium marches that occured across the United States in the Fall of 1969. Johns took the familiar flag and used the colors of military camouflage and the suggestion of Agent Orange and placed a "bullet" hole center. It provokes a reaction. If the viewer focuses on the center white dot for 60 seconds and then looks away at a blank white wall, the familiar color scheme of the American flag appears as an optical illusion.

Literature: Johns, Jasper, and Richard S. Field. The Prints of Jasper Johns 1960-1993: A Catalogue Raisonné, New York: Universal Limited Art, 1994, No. S5, ill.

bottom margin trimmed lacking ink stamp in lower right, some toning and discoloration in margins, loose