Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe painting sells for record-breaking £157.8m at auction
Shot Sage Blue Marilyn is one of the many paintings Warhol made after Monroe died in 1962
Andy Warhol’s 1964 silk-screen portrait of Marilyn Monroe has been auctioned for a record-breaking $195m (£157.8m).
The painting, Shot Sage Blue Marilyn, is one of the many paintings in the series Warhol made of Monroe after she died of a barbiturate overdose in 1962.
Warhol’s painting was held in the collection of Swiss art dealers Thomas and Doris Ammann and auctioned at The Christie’s in New York on Monday, 9 May.
The pre-sale estimates of the painting were as high as $200m.
The painting was sold for a hammer price of $170m to US art dealer Larry Gagosian, according to Bloomberg. Additional fees such as a buyer’s price gave it the final value of $195m.
“Shot Sage Blue Marilyn is the absolute pinnacle of American pop,” Alex Rotter, the chairman of 20th and 21st Century art at Christie’s, said in a statement announcing the auction. “The painting transcends the genre of portraiture, superseding 20th-century art and culture.”
The sale beat the record for a 20th-century artwork, Pablo Picasso’s Women of Algiers, which sold for $179.4m in 2015.
According to Christie’s, all the proceeds of the sale will go to the Switzerland-based Thomas and Doris Ammann Foundation Zurich, which works to establish healthcare and education programmes for children around the world.
Warhol painted this piece based on a promotional photo of Monroe from the 1953 film Niagara.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies