Andy Warhol's 1964 silkscreen portrait of Marilyn Monroe, arguably one of the most recognizable images of the twentieth century, sold for a record-breaking $195 million (including fees) on Monday evening at Christie's New York. As a result, it is the most expensive work by a twentieth-century artist ever sold at auction. It was sold to art dealer Larry Gagosian, who was present at the auction. Shot Sage Blue Marilyn (1964) depicts a press photo from Marilyn Monroe's 1953 noir film Niagara. Warhol used the actress's image repeatedly in his work until his death in 1987. It is inspired by Warhol's "Shot Marilyn" portrait series, which he created following an incident at his downtown studio in which he prompted a collaborator, Dorothy Podber, to shoot into a stack of canvases.
The result nearly doubled the artist's previous auction record of $105.4 million, set in 2013 when his 1963 canvas Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster) sold at Sotheby's. The current lot had been in a private collection for the previous five decades. Christie's also rode a double-pronged pop culture wave of renewed interest in both Warhol and Monroe with the sale. This year, Netflix released The Andy Warhol Diaries, a six-part documentary series about the artist's personal life, as well as The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes, a documentary film. Just last week, Kim Kardashian wore a resurgence of Monroe's 1962 custom-made nude gown, which the star infamously wore when she sang a breathy "Happy Birthday" to John F. Kennedy, just months before her death. Kardashian's decision to wear the actual dress on the red carpet sparked outrage among fashion historians.
Four bidders competed for the work, which was offered as the night's final lot: one on the phone with Christie's co-chairman of Impressionist and Modernist, Adrien Meyer, two others on the phone with New York specialists, and one in the room. The painting, which was offered for sale without a financial guarantee, fetched $170 million and was purchased by Gagosian, the room bidder, for a final price of $195 million. The hammer price was $30 million less than the $200 million estimate set by Christie's ahead of the auction. The work was purchased from the estate of Swiss art dealers Thomas and Doris Ammann, siblings who cofounded Thomas Ammann Fine Art in 1977 and had a long list of high-profile modern and contemporary art collectors. Doris, who outlived her brother, ran the business until her death in March 2021 at the age of 76.
Not only did Warhol set a new artist record with Shot Sage Blue Marilyn, but it also became one of the most expensive works of art ever sold at auction, surpassing Pablo Picasso's Les Femmes d'Alger ("Version O") as the second highest expensiveselling work ever. In 2015, Qatari royal Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani paid $179 million for the painting at Christie's. (The most expensive work ever sold at auction was Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi for $450 million.) According to New York art appraiser David Shapiro, the new benchmark for Warhol is in line with the values for blue-chip brand name artists. Works from the famed "Shot Marilyn" series, of which there are only five, have long been highly sought after, according to Shapiro, and only a few private collectors have the means to acquire one.
Though the price puts Warhol on par with Picasso as the most valuable artist of the modern era, Shapiro notes that "within the larger market for trophy art, the figure of $200 million is very much in keeping with prices realized in the private dealer market for quite a few years."
Selena Mattei
