Warhol’s Marilyn
The art market doesn’t seem to slow down, one of history’s most iconic images, Andy Warhol’s legendary painting titled “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” from 1964 will be offered as the leading lot of the Marquee Week of sales at Christie’s this May.
The painting was previously owned by a succession of high-profile gallerists and collectors before being purchased by the late Swiss art dealer Thomas Ammann. It is currently owned by the Thomas and Doris Ammann Foundation, which was started by the Ammann siblings. The painting is now being offered for auction and all proceeds of the sale will benefit the foundation, whose mission is to improve the healthcare of children and provide them with educational programs worldwide.
As Christie’s Chairman, Alex Rotter, said in a statement: “The most significant painting to come to auction in a generation, Andy Warhol’s Marilyn is the absolute pinnacle of American Pop and the promise of the American Dream encapsulating optimism, fragility, celebrity and iconography all at once”.
The Shot Marilyns series consists of 5 paintings in total, which Andy Warhol created in 1964 with different colored backgrounds — blue, red, orange, turquoise and sage blue. Today these paintings are considered to be true gems and when coming to market they are expected to break new records. The painting “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” is considered to be one of the rarest and most transcendent images in existence and is poised to be the most expensive 20th century artwork to ever sell at auction, with an estimate in the region of $200 million.
The current auction record for a work by Andy Warhol is held by the serigraph “Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster),” created in 1963, which depicts the mangled aftermath of a road collision. It was sold in November 2013 for $105 million at a New York auction, setting a new record price for a work by Warhol. Several of Warhol’s Marilyn images have also attracted huge interests from collectors with “White Marilyn” from 1962 selling for $41 million, way above its high estimate of $18 million, in New York back in May 2014.
As for the other 4 paintings from the series, the “Shot Blue Marilyn” was purchased by Peter Brant for $5,000 back in 1967, the “Shot Red Marilyn” was bought by Philip Niarchos for approximately $4.1 million at Christie’s in May 1989, a sale which set a record. The stunning “Shot Orange Marilyn” was bought for $17.3 million in May 1998 and later sold to Kenneth C. Griffin for a rumored $210 million and is today considered to be one of the most expensive paintings held in private hands. And the “Shot Turquoise Marilyn” was bought by Steve A. Cohen for a rumored $80 million back in May 2007.
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