Warhol’s iconic Marilyn Monroe portrait sells for $195 million at Christie’s

The record-high sale for an American artwork at auction signals a strong start to New York’s major spring auctions.

A man looks at Andy Warhol's 'Shot Sage Blue Marilyn' during Christie's 20th and 21st Century Art press preview in New York. Picture: AFP

An iconic Andy Warhol silk-screen portrait of movie star Marilyn Monroe sold for $195 million ($280m) at Christie’s on Monday, establishing a new record for any American artwork at auction.

The sale kicked off New York’s major spring auctions and underscored the global strength of the high-end art market at a time of volatility in broader financial markets. Collectors often regard fine art as an investment hedge because art values don’t necessarily move in tandem with securities.

Warhol’s 3-foot square silk-screen from 1964, called “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn,” depicts a promotional photo from the actress’s 1953 film, “Niagara.”

The artist transformed the actress into a pop-art icon by giving her a bubblegum-pink face, ruby lips and blue eye shadow set against a sage-blue background.

At least four bidders vied for the work, with dealer Larry Gagosian winning it after a roughly four-minute-long bidding battle in Christie’s Rockefeller Center salesroom in Manhattan. Heading into the latest sale, Christie’s had high expectations for the work, giving it a $200 million estimate.

In terms of blockbuster paintings, the Warhol now ranks among the most expensive artworks ever sold. The sale surpassed the $110.5 million paid in 2017 for a skull painting by Warhol’s protégé, Jean-Michel Basquiat. The sale also eclipsed Warhol’s previous, $105.4 million record set in 2013 for his wall-size, metallic diptych featuring a man slumped in his wrecked automobile, “Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster).”

The overall titleholder remains Leonardo da Vinci’s $450 million “Salvator Mundi,” which Christie’s sold to Saudi Arabia’s crown prince in 2017.

The story behind “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” likely gave Warhol some added luster and helped Christie’s justify the price-tag. Warhol created five silk-screens of the star in this particular “Marilyn” series. Each one has a different background such as red, orange, blue, sage blue and turquoise.

In 1964, artist Dorothy Podber spotted the group stacked against a wall in Warhol’s studio. She asked if she could shoot them. Warhol agreed, thinking she intended to photograph the works. Instead, she took out a gun and fired at the group of “Marilyn” works in Warhol’s studio, known as the Factory. Warhol repaired the red and blue works that were damaged; the others, including this sage-blue version, were unscathed.

The incident’s notoriety has since turned these “Shot Marilyns” into plums sought after by some of the art world’s biggest buyers including newsprint executive Peter Brant, Greek shipping tycoon Philip Niarchos and hedge-fund manager Steven Cohen.

The seller of this “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” version was an eponymous foundation created by Doris Ammann, a well-known Zurich dealer who died at age 76 last year, and her late brother, Thomas, a dealer who died in 1993.

Ms. Ammann and her younger brother, Thomas, bought this sage-blue version from publishing magnate Si Newhouse. Proceeds from its resale will now go to charities selected by the Ammann’s foundation — with input from Mr. Gagosian or the anonymous client he was potentially buying for, Christie’s said.

Appeared in the May 10, 2022, print edition as ‘Warhol Portrait of Marilyn Monroe Sells for Record $195 Million’.

The Wall Street Journal