Where Is Three Flags? See It at Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

Q: What is encaustic?

Encaustic is pigment mixed with hot beeswax. It dries quickly, preserving brushstrokes and creating rich textures. Johns used it extensively in his early flag and target paintings.

Q: How does Three Flags differ from Flag?

Three Flags projects into space rather than lying flat. Three canvases of decreasing size create a sculptural presence. It questions whether it's a painting or an object.

American artist Jasper Johns painted this Three Flags in 1958, stacking three American flags in decreasing size. The smallest sits in front, creating a relief-like projection from the wall. It's both a painting of flags and an object made of flags, confusing categories of representation and reality.

Johns used encaustic (pigmented wax), building up textured surfaces that catch light. The flag was "something the mind already knows," freeing Johns to explore formal problems without inventing imagery. Three Flags sold at auction in 1980 for $1 million, then a record for a living artist. It hangs in the colorful gallery at MoMA.

Johns said he dreamed of painting a large American flag. The familiar image freed him to focus on paint itself rather than inventing subjects. 'Things the mind already knows' became his approach.

Encaustic is pigment mixed with hot beeswax. It dries quickly, preserving brushstrokes and creating rich textures. Johns used it extensively in his early flag and target paintings.

Three Flags projects into space rather than lying flat. Three canvases of decreasing size create a sculptural presence. It questions whether it's a painting or an object.

Three Flags

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The Artist

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About Three Flags

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