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THE COMPLEX but usable "window" of tax opportunity that permits collectors to give works of art at advantageous terms to non-profit institutions, approved a few weeks ago by the US Congress, has already begun to bear fruit.
The marvelous Richard B. and Erna Flagg collection of renaissance, medieval and Haitian art, which will officially become part of the Milwaukee Art Museum's permanent holdings in January of next year, is but one example.
The 105 works would have come to the museum in any event, administrators said, but thanks to the new tax law, the legal aspects of the long-anticipated transfer could be sped up and facilitated.
Now a note from Richard Koshalek, the former Wisconsinite who heads the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. He informs The Journal that MOCA has been given a tremendous Jasper Johns' painting, "Map" (1962), by longtime benefactor Marcia Simon Weisman.
The gift is noteworthy in that Johns is extremely hot on the otherwise faltering auction market, and "Map," like this artist's flags and targets of the period, marks the transition between abstract-expressionism and Pop Art.
The 60 by 93-inch work goes on display at MOCA Jan. 20 along with other recently acquired works. It depicts a map of the continental US, painted with slashing brushstrokes and drips in gray shades. Moving Remarks by Flagg
Incidentally, Richard Flagg's highly personal (and unashamedly emotional) remarks, at the time the gift of his family's collection was made public, brought tears to many eyes.
Flagg was prevented by illness from attending...