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Andy Warhol's portrait of Marilyn Monroe sold at auction for a record $195 million, making it the most expensive 20th century artwork ever sold

May 10, 2022, 16:45 IST
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The iconic pop art piece "Shot Sage Blue Marilyn" also shattered records for an American artist.Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
  • One of Andy Warhol's famed portraits of Marilyn Monroe fetched a record $195 million at auction.
  • The iconic pop art piece, "Shot Sage Blue Marilyn," also shattered records for an American artist.
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One of Andy Warhol's famed portraits of Marilyn Monroe fetched a record $195 million at Christie's in New York on Monday, making it the most expensive 20th-century artwork ever sold.

Painted in 1964, the iconic pop art piece "Shot Sage Blue Marilyn" also shattered records for an American artist.

The piece was sold to an unknown buyer in just under four minutes of bidding, per The New York Times.

"This sale demonstrates the pervasive power of Andy Warhol as well as the lasting legacy that he continues to leave behind in the art world, popular culture, and society," Alex Rotter, Christie's Chairman of 20th and 21st Century Art, said in a press release.

The painting is one of a series of colorful portraits that Warhol made of the Hollywood star after her death in 1962, based on a publicity still from her 1953 film "Niagara."

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The previous record for a 20th-century artwork was set in 2015, when Pablo Picasso's "Les Femmes d'Alger (Version O)" sold for $179.4 million.

The Monroe portrait also smashed the previous record price for an American artwork — Jean-Michel Basquiat's $110.5 million untitled painting of a skull.

Proceeds from the sale will be donated to benefit charities providing medical and educational services to children, Christie's said.

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