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New York (AFP) – New record in sight on the very lucrative art market in New York: Christie’s will sell in May a portrait of Marilyn Monroe painted by Andy Warhol and estimated at 200 million dollars, which would make it the work of most expensive 20th century art ever sold at auction.
During a press conference on the subject kept secret until the last minute, Christie’s, which dominates with Sotheby’s the New York and world auction market, presented the painting “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” painted in 1964 by Andy Warhol, “the most important 20th century painting to be auctioned in a generation”.
The famous image of Marilyn Monroe, American actress and world icon with a tragic destiny (1926-1962), belongs to the Zurich foundation Thomas and Doris Ammann (a brother and a sister), which will devote the proceeds of the sale “to the improvement the lives of children around the world through health and education programs,” according to Christie’s.
The house values it “around 200 million dollars”.
Philanthropy
“With 100% of the sale of a single painting going to charity, this is the highest auction for a philanthropic purpose since the collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller in 2018,” boasted Christie’s.
For the anecdote – and the legend – the four “Shot Marilyns” works, including this “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” – a square measuring one meter by one – take their names from an incident that occurred in 1964 in the studio of ‘Andy Warhol in Manhattan: a woman asking the artist if she could “photograph” the paintings (“shoot” in English) shot them with a revolver.
For Georg Frei, president of the Ammann Foundation, “the image of Marilyn by Andy Warhol, certainly more famous today than the original photo taken from Henry Hathaway’s film +Niagara+, attests to its intact visual power in this new millennium” .
This “spectacular portrait separates the person from the star”, deciphered Mr. Frei.
“Marilyn, the woman, is no more, the terrible circumstances of her life and death are forgotten. All that remains is that enigmatic smile that brings her closer to another mysterious smile of a distinguished woman, the Mona Lisa “, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, he said.
Mona Lisa
If it sells well for around $200 million, the “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” will break all records for a 20th century art auction.
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According to a ranking established by AFP, the absolute record – all periods combined – for a sale of a work of art at auction is held by Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi”, sold in November 2017 for 450, $3 million by Christie’s in New York.
For works from the 20th century, “The Women of Algiers (version 0)” by Pablo Picasso (179.4 million dollars in May 2015) and the “Nu reclining” by Amedeo Modigliani (170.4 million in November 2015 ), were both sold at Christie’s.
Another copy from the same series by the Italian painter also reached $157.2 million in 2018 at competitor Sotheby’s.
NFT
Despite the pandemic that brought New York to its knees in 2020, its art market has never done so well and is setting records thanks to the city’s great fortunes and increasingly young Asian buyers.
Last fall, Sotheby’s put on the market, for some 600 million dollars, the Macklowe collection, resulting from the divorce of the New York real estate magnate Harry Macklowe and his ex-wife Linda.
And almost unknown a year ago, the NFT (“Non-Fungible Token”), digital objects whose ownership is traceable, represent for some experts the new hen with the golden eggs of the contemporary art market.
© 2022 AFP
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