Jasper Johns, Flag (Moratorium), ULAE S5, 1969

Jasper Johns

Flag (Moratorium), ULAE S5, 1969

Color offset lithograph on wove paper

Signed and numbered in graphite pencil on the front; also bears the artists printed name, date and copyright lower right front

Edition 142/300

Frame included

Published by the Committee Against the War in Vietnam
Printed by ULAE, East Islip, New York
Pencil signed and numbered 142/300 on the front; also bears the artist's printed name, date and copyright
The present "Flag (Moratorium)" created by Jasper Johns in 1969 holds significant historic and cultural importance, reflecting a pivotal moment in American history. The present work is of course the coveted hand signed and numbered edition – separate from a limited edition poster (the latter containing the words Moratorium, absent in the signed print edition). "Moratorium" became an icon of the Anti-Vietnam War movement of the late 1960s, and is considered one of Jasper Johns' most important, controversial and socially significant prints. The legendary Leo Castelli Gallery commissioned the artist to create a print for the National Vietnam Moratorium led by students across the United States. A departure from his red, white, and blue flag paintings, Johns painted a toxic flag—a national symbol poisoned by war. The flag is colored black, with sickly green stripes reminiscent of military camouflage. A ghoulish orange hued field filled with blackened stars is an allusion to the deadly Agent Orange herbicide used by the U.S. military in the 1960s, an emblem of the horrors taking place in Vietnam. In the center of the painted flag was a single white dot representative of a bullet hole. One of the most interesting qualities of this print is that if one stares at the white dot in the middle for 30 seconds, closes their eyes, and opens them to look at a white piece of paper, a red, white and blue American flag will appear. When it was first created, Moratorium was considered un-patriotic and subversive by Nixonites and Conservatives. However, it was exactly works like this that would, more than four decades later, earn Johns a Presidential Medal of Freedom, which the Obama administration bestowed upon him in 2010. The term "moratorium" generally refers to a suspension of activity or a period of delay. The most notable of these was the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam, a massive series of demonstrations across the United States that took place in October 1969. The unconventional use of colors can be seen as a means of defamiliarizing iconic symbols, encouraging viewers to see beyond their conventional meanings and to question the constructs of nationalism and identity – all the more poignant because no other contemporary and Pop Artist was more associated with the classic American Flag than Jasper Johns. So the art world, and indeed members of the anti-war movement took notice of this print.
Frame included: elegantly floated and framed in a hand made wood museum quality frame with UV plexiglass
Measurements:
Framed:
24.25 inches vertical by 32.25 inches horizontal by 2 inches
Artwork:
20.5 inches vertical by 28.5 inches
Literature:: U.L.A.E. S5