Cash in on Zeitgeist by selling paintings of the Ukrainian flag?

by philg

A modest-sized Jasper Johns painting of the American flag sold for $36 million in pre-Biden money (New York Post, 2014). A hedge fund billionaire might have paid $110 million for one in 2010 (NYT). Here’s a (priceless) triple-flag version at the Whitney:

Johns is 93, possibly too old to be a heavy enough Twitter and Facebook user to realize how much value there is in displaying the Ukrainian flag. Could this be an opportunity for a younger artist to step in? Imagine the above painting but with Ukraine flags instead of U.S. flags. (I mentioned this to friends and they said that it would be even better as rainbow flags.)

3 thoughts on “Cash in on Zeitgeist by selling paintings of the Ukrainian flag?”

  1. Does this masterpiece symbolize shrinkflation or is it a crude attempt at recursion?

    Either way, with a new debt ceiling many of these paintings can be bought.

  2. I am **VERY** surprised that a Putin-backed front group in the USA hasn’t opened an online store based in the USA selling “Made Proudly in the USA” products, including all the usual kinds of merchandise/swag. I haven’t looked very closely, I admit, and maybe they already are.

    In fact I’m surprised they didn’t hit the ground running on Day -100, having planned it well in advance. I think it would have to be run by some American, maybe even someone who has zero knowledge of where the money goes after traveling through various bona fide banks with accounts established in advance by “bona fide” people who don’t appear to have two heads.

    It would all look perfectly on the up-and-up with a handful of workers being paid the prevailing wage, selling Made in the USA products with a significant markup. Or even products that were really made in China and carefully repackaged, rebadged and branded, and drop-shipped.

    Please don’t tell me this is beyond the capabilities of Russian intelligence agencies to plan and accomplish, or Chinese manufacturers to produce with absolutely seamless fidelity.

    Ever seen a “real fake” Louis Vuitton handbag? You can’t tell. And in fact, many luxury brands do it without their customers’ knowledge, you just have to know who to ask. Chinese manufacturing has come so far, so fast, that you can buy a “real fake Rolex” IN CHINA that is almost totally indistinguishable from the real thing, even by an expert. This is no secret, either: they’re on YouTube.

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