New record on view with auction of Marilyn de Warhol's portrait by Christie's

New record on view with auction of Christie's portrait of Marilyn de Warhol By Peter HutchisonNew York, 21 Mar 2022 (AFP) - Christie's house hopes to set a new record for a 20th century work of art by auctioning a portrait of Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol in 1964.” Shot Sage Blue Marilyn”, one of the most iconic works in art history, will go on sale for 200 million dollars in the week of auctions in May, Christie's announced this Monday at a press conference called without revealing the reason.For the president of the 20th and 21st century art section at Christie's, Alex Rotter, this painting, the “most important” auctioned in a generation - is the “absolute pinnacle of American pop art and the promise of American Dream that encapsulates optimism, fragility, celebrity and iconography all at the same time.” The famous image of Marilyn Monroe, the American actress and world icon of tragic destiny (1926-1962), belongs to the Thomas and Doris Ammann Foundation in Zurich, Switzerland, which will devote the money from the sale to health and education projects aimed at improving the lives of children around the world.” With 100% of the sale of a single painting for a charity, this is the biggest philanthropic sale since the auction of Peggy and David Rockefeller's collection in 2018,” said the auction house. The name of the four reproductions “Shot Marilyns”, to which “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” belongs - one meter by one meter, is due to an incident in 1964 in Andy Warhol's workshop in Manhattan: a woman who asked the artist if she could “photograph” the paintings (“shoot” in English) shot them with a revolver.According to the anecdote, the bullet passed through four canvases, which Warhol later repaired: the series “Shot” (shot). - Enigmatic smile - The “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” shows the actress with a pink face, red lips, blond hair and blue eye shadow on a light blue background (sage blue) For the chairman of the Board of the Georg Frei Foundation, the work of Marilyn made by Warhol in 1964, based on a photo for a poster for the film “Niagara” (1953) ) by Henry Hathaway, “witnesses its intact visual power in the new millennium.” The spectacular portrait isolates the person and the star: Marilyn, the woman is gone; the terrible circumstances of her life and death have been forgotten. All that remains is the enigmatic smile that links her with another mysterious smile of another distinguished lady, the Mona Lisa,” said the auction house in a statement. If the portrait of the iconic actress is finished off at the announced price, it would become the second most expensive work in art history awarded at auction, behind” Salvator Mundi” by Leonardo de Vinci, sold in November 2017 for 450.3 million dollars.And it would exceed the price paid for a work of the twentieth century, “The Women of Árgel (version 0)”, an oil painting by Pablo Picasso, sold at 179.4 million dollars in 2015 and “Lying Nude” by Amedeo Modigliani for 170.4 million dollars, also in 2015, according to a list established by AFP, and all three finished off by Christie's. Although the pandemic brought New York to its knees in 2020, its art market has never been so buoyant and has set records thanks to the great fortunes of the city but especially buyers from other parts of the world, especially Asians and increasingly youngs.pdh-af/rsr —