Warhol's Monroe portrait sells for a record £158m
The Guardian|May 11, 2022
Andy Warhol's image of Marilyn Monroe, one of his best known portraits, has smashed records after selling for $195m (£158m) in New York in less than four minutes of bidding.
Harriet Sherwood
Warhol's Monroe portrait sells for a record £158m

The pop artist's 1964 silk-screen image of Monroe, Shot Sage Blue Marilyn, created after the film star's death two years earlier, has become the most expensive piece of 20thcentury art ever sold following its auction for $170m plus fees, taking the final price to $195m.

The previous record was set in 2015 when a 1955 painting by Pablo Picasso - Les femmes d'Alger (Version O) sold for $179.4m.

It has also become the most expensive work by an American artist to be sold at auction. The record was previously held by a 1982 skull painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Warhol's sometime friend, collaborator and rival, which sold for $110.5m in 2017.

According to reports, the buyer was Larry Gagosian, a US art dealer and owner of a chain of galleries. The 40in by 40in Shot Sage Blue Marilyn is one in a series of portraits Warhol made of Monroe after her death.

This story is from the May 11, 2022 edition of The Guardian.

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This story is from the May 11, 2022 edition of The Guardian.

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