Metro

Jasper Johns raises red ‘Flag’ over sculptures

Famed artist Jasper Johns told a Manhattan federal jury Thursday that he never authorized a former Queens foundry owner to make bronze sculptures of his iconic 1960 “Flag” painting.

Johns, 83, denied Brian Ramnarine’s claim that the artist gave him a bronze copy of “Flag” as a gift.

Ramnarine, 59, is on trial for fraud after he was allegedly caught by the feds trying to sell the copy in 2010 for $11 million.

Johns testified Thursday that he hired Ramnarine, whose past work he called “excellent,” to make a wax mold of the work in 1990 for a gold version.

That gold copy was never made, but Johns said Ramnarine ignored requests to return the mold and even used it to make another bronze in the early 1990s that he also claimed was Johns’ work.

Ramnarine’s lawyers say their client was told he could keep the mold by James Meyer, Johns’ longtime assistant.