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Jasper Johns’ “Flag” brings record price at auction of Michael Crichton’s estate

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Christie’s marketing push for the Michael Crichton estate paid off with sales Tuesday night of $93.3 million for 31 pieces, led by a record price of $28.6 million for Jasper Johns’ ‘Flag” (1960-66).

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According to Lindsay Pollock and Philip Boroff of Bloomberg.com, the buyer of ‘Flag’ (seen at right) was New York art dealer Michael Altman.

The sale sets a record for the artist at auction but falls far short of prices achieved for Johns’ works privately, reported to exceed $100 million.

Johns painted several variations of his ‘Flag’ image, which fly prominently in the homes of major collectors. For more on the ‘Flags’ ’ whereabouts, click here.

Crichton, who created the ‘ER’ television series and wrote such blockbusters as ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘The Andromeda Strain,’ died in 2008. For more on the controversy surrounding the sale of his estate, click here.

-- Jori Finkel

You can follow the writer on Twitter: @jorifinkel.

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