Andy Warhol's Portrait Of Marilyn Monroe Breaks Auction Records With $195M Sale

Andy Warhol’s 1964 silk-screen “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” fetched $195 million at a Christie’s New York auction on Monday, marking the highest such amount paid for both an American and a 20th-century artwork.

What Happened: The New York Times reported the auction took four minutes to complete, with the 40-inch-by-40-inch portrait of Marilyn Monroe sold to an unidentified buyer.

The auction sale price beat the $110.5 million generated in a 2017 auction for a skull painting by Jean Michel-Basquiat. It also eclipsed the $179.3 million price from a 2015 auction of Pablo Picasso’s “Les Femmes d'Alger (Version O).”

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Why It Happened: “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” was part of a five-painting series by Warhol based on a promotional photograph of Monroe from her 1953 film “Niagara.” 

Swiss art dealers Thomas and Doris Ammann acquired the work in 1998 from publishing industry executive S.I. Newhouse. 

The auction proceeds will go to the Ammann family’s foundation to fund pediatric health care and educational programs for children.

When the auction was first announced, there was speculation that the work could break the $200 million mark. However, no one seemed to have complaints about Monday's auction results.

“We did sell the most expensive painting of the 20th century,” Christie’s specialist Alex Rotter was quoted as saying by NYT. “This is a big achievement.”

Photo courtesy of Christie's