$195 Million for Marilyn: Warhol Sets a 20th-Century Record

Andy Warhol turned a publicity still of Marilyn Monroe into one of the defining images of the modern age. In May 2022, his silkscreen 'Shot Sage Blue Marilyn' (1964) sold at Christie's New York for $195 million.

It became the most expensive 20th-century artwork ever sold at auction, and the priciest American work of any era. The buyer was the mega-dealer Larry Gagosian.

The title nods to a strange origin story: a performance artist once fired a pistol at a stack of these Marilyns in Warhol's studio. Tragedy, glamour and celebrity — all the obsessions of Pop, in a single shimmering face.

Image: “Marilyn Monroe in Niagara” — Studio publicity still. 20th Century Fox, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.