MARILYN BREAKS RECORD
NEW YORK: An Andy Warhol portrait of Marilyn Monroe has sold for $US195m, becoming the most expensive 20th century artwork ever sold at public auction.
Shot Sage Blue Marilyn, produced in 1964 two years after the death of the glamorous Hollywood star, sold for exactly $US195.04m ($280.5m), including fees, in just four minutes in a crowded room at Christie’s headquarters in Manhattan.
Prior to the sale, the portrait had been estimated to go for about $US200m.
Although it fell just short, it nevertheless beat the previous record for a 20th century work, Pablo Picasso’s Women of Algiers, which brought $US179.4m in 2015.
The record for any work of art from any period sold at auction is held by Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, which sold in November, 2017 for $US450.3m.