In this episode of Masterworks, and in honor of the 4th of July, we take a look back at Jasper Johns ‘Flag’ from 1983, which achieved over $36 million in Sotheby’s November 2014 Contemporary Art Evening Auction. For Johns, arguably one of the most important artists of the 20th century, the American flag was a vehicle through which he explored how an image is constructed. He famously said, "using the design of the American flag took care of a great deal for me because I didn’t have to design it. So I went on to similar things like the targets—things the mind already knows. That gave me room to work on other levels.” Discover more Masterworks sold at Sotheby’s.