Almost as iconic as the tragic actor herself is the version of her created by pop artist Andy Warhol. (Warhol morbidly created his first Marilyn Monroe print upon hearing the news of her death in 1962.) And if you have $20 million dollars to spare, you can stare at an original Warhol version of Marilyn for the rest of your days.
With color-blocked yellow hair, blue eye shadow and a skin tone too pink to be realistic, this stylized silkscreen painting called 'Shot Sage Blue Marilyn' – based on a press photo from the movie ‘Niagara’ – has been instantly recognizable since its 1964 creation. Because of the silk screening process where ink must be reapplied, each print is slightly different, and Warhol created many series of this same image throughout his decades of work.
Christie’s is bringing one of the prints to auction this May, where it is projected to sell for $200 million – which would make it the most expensive piece of contemporary art sold at auction, according to Art News.
The ‘shot’ in the title of the three-foot square painting Christie’s will be auctioning refers to a strange incident in 1964. Performance artist Dorothy Podber visited Warhol in the studio, saw the completed Marilyn pieces and asked if she could shoot them. He thought she meant photographically, but she pulled out a revolver and shot through four stacked-up canvases. Podber was — understandably — banned from Warhol’s studio for life. This sage blue print is the only one of that color from that commotion; the others are blue, red, orange, and the turquoise that evaded being shot.
This piece will be sold from the estate of Swiss art dealers Thomas and Doris Ammann. All proceeds will go to the Thomas and Doris Ammann Foundation Zurich, an educational and healthcare charity for children. Once the funds are distributed, the foundation will run for another few years and then close.