At auction, Andy Warhol’s 1964 artwork of Marilyn Monroe fetched a record-breaking £157.8 million. In 1964, two years after the star’s death, the colorful work was released.
‘Shot Sage Blue Marilyn’ became one of Warhol’s most well-known works, as well as one of the iconic photographs of actress.
Thomas and Doris Ammann, Swiss art dealers, had the silk-screen portrait in their collection.
It was auctioned in New York yesterday and sold for a massive £157.8 million to an unknown buyer.
The portrait’s possible new owners went up against them other in a tense bidding war that lasted only minutes.
According to Alex Rotter, Christie’s chairman of 20th and 21st Century art, the sale reflected the auction industry’s robust recovery from the pandemic.
He requested people to let the huge price tag ‘sink in’.
He said, “We did sell the most expensive painting of the 20th century. I’m very proud of that…I think everyone is very proud of that.
“This is a big achievement that is not on me, but just on Warhol and Marilyn…20th-century works of art, American works of art, it’s the highest price ever paid, close to $200 million.
“Let it sink in. It’s quite something.”
The entire sale revenues will benefit the Thomas and Doris Ammann Foundation Zurich in Switzerland, which strives to build healthcare and education programmes for children all around the world.
A advertising photo of Marilyn Monroe from the 1953 film ‘Niagara’ inspired the Shot Sage Blue Marilyn.
Its title alludes to an incident in which a lady fired a handgun at a stack of four Marilyn pictures at Warhol’s studio, albeit Shot Sage Blue Marilyn was not hit.
The portrait’s sale set a new record for the most money ever paid for an American piece of art.
A vibrant 1982 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat has previously been purchased for £89,565,775 in 2017.
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