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| Andy Warhol’s ‘Shot Sage Blue Marilyn’, pictured on display at Christie’s Auction House in New York. It is the most expensive piece of 20th Century art ever sold |
Pop artist Andy Warholโs famed 1964 silk-screen portrait of Marilyn Monroe sold for $195 million at auction on Monday, a record for a work by an American artist sold at auction.
โShot Sage Blue Marilynโ is one in a series of portraits Warhol made of the actress following her death in 1962 and has since become one of pop artโs best-known pieces.
Held in the collection of Swiss art dealers Thomas and Doris Ammann, it was sold by Christieโs at an auction in New York. Pre-sale estimates had reached as high as $200 million.
The painting sold for a hammer price of $170 million Added fees gave it a final price of $195 million.
The sale broke the previous record for an American artwork at auction of $110.5 million set in 2017 for a 1982 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat.
โโShot Sage Blue Marilynโ is the absolute pinnacle of American Pop,โ Alex Rotter, chairman of 20th and 21st Century art at Christieโs, said in a statement announcing the auction. โThe painting transcends the genre of portraiture, superseding 20th century art and culture.โ
The painting is built on a promotional photo of Monroe from the 1953 film โNiagara,โ screened with bright colors over her eyes, hair and lips.
Its title refers to an incident in which a woman shot at a stack of four Marilyn portraits in Warholโs studio with a pistol, although โShot Sage Blue Marilynโ was not struck by a bullet.
Monroe was one of Hollywoodโs best-known stars before her death of an overdose at her home in Los Angeles on Aug. 4, 1962.
Warhol died in 1987.
REUTERS
