Christie’s is ecstatic right now at the news that Steven A. Cohen has bought Leo Castelli’s own Jasper Johns flag painting–one that had been on loan to SFMoMA by Castelli’s heir–for a rumored $110 million. The painting joins Cohen’s other remarkable nine-figure acquisitions in what Brett Gorvy calls “the most comprehensive collection of American postwar images in private hands.”

For Christie’s this revalues the Crichton transaction. Carol Vogel quotes Gorvy in her New York Times story on the sale:

While the “Flag” that Christie’s is selling also comes with a pristine provenance […] it is half the size of the one Mr. Cohen bought. “This transaction propels the Crichton painting to a higher level,” Mr. Gorvy said, adding that the only other important “Flag” in private hands is owned by Mr. Geffen. The Cohen sale “only adds to its rarity.”

Inside Art: Planting a Johns ‘Flag’ in a Private Collection (New York Times)