On Monday, Andy Warhol’s iconic silkscreen of Marilyn Monroe sold for $195 million, breaking the record for the most expensive American piece of art ever sold.
In 2017, the legendary Warhol painting surpassed the previous record of $110.5 million set by the late Jean-Michel Basquiat’s untitled 1982 skull painting at a Sotheby’s auction in New York. Before Basquiat, Warhol held the record, with his 1963 piece “Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster)” selling for $105.4 million in 2013.
Before the auction, Sotheby’s assessed Warhol’s 1964 painting to be worth $200 million.
The Thomas and Doris Ammann Foundation Zurich, which put the painting up for auction, will receive 100% of the proceeds. The foundation strives to provide health care and educational initiatives to children.
Initially, the 40×40 prints were one of five silkscreens produced in 1964 and housed in a stack at Warhol’s New York studio, The Factory.
According to Artsy, Dorothy Podber, a performance artist, asked if she could “shoot” them, and he agreed, assuming she meant with a camera. Instead, Podber took out a handgun and shot everyone except the turquoise print on the forehead.
The four paintings were restored by Warhol and became known as the “Shot Marilyns.”
Over the years, all five paintings have been sold for significant sums of money. The blue background artwork was first sold for $5,000 in 1967. The orange background sold for $17.3 million in 1998, then went for a reported $200 million or more to hedge fund investor Ken Griffin.
“‘Shot Sage Blue Marilyn’ is the absolute pinnacle of American pop,” Alex Rotter, chairman of 20th and 21st Century Art at Christie’s, said. “The painting transcends the genre of portraiture, superseding 20th-century art and culture. Standing alongside Botticelli’s ‘Birth of Venus,’ Da Vinci’s ‘Mona Lisa’ and Picasso’s ‘Les Demoiselle d’Avignon,’ Warhol’s ‘Marilyn’ is one of the greatest paintings of all time.”
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