Andy Warhol Marilyn Monroe portrait sells at auction for a record $195 million
An iconic Andy Warhol portrait of Marilyn Monroe just sold at auction for an eye-popping amount of money, setting a new record.
Warhol's 1964 silkscreen of Monroe, "Shot Sage Blue Marilyn," sold at auction in New York on Monday night for $195 million, the highest price tag for a piece of American art sold at auction in history, The New York Times reports.
The previous record was $110.5 million for a painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat that sold in 2017. Warhol's own "Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster)" also sold in 2013 for $105.4 million.
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"Shot Sage Blue Marilyn" also became the "second most expensive artwork to sell at auction of all time" behind Leonardo da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi," which sold for $450 million, according to Christie's auction house. It sold after less than four minutes of bidding, per The Guardian.
"Central to the Warhol's pantheon of pop icons, 'Shot Sage Blue Marilyn' immortalises Monroe as the embodiment of celebrity, while cementing her image into the art historical canon," Christie's said, noting Warhol began depicting Monroe in his work after her death in 1962 "struck a personal chord."
Twenty percent of the proceeds will be allocated to a charity of the buyer's choosing.
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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
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