This morning (7 p.m. New York time on May 9), Christie's "Thomas and Doris Ammann Collection Evening Auction" in New York raised the gavel as scheduled. The Paper has learned that Andy Warhol's iconic "Shooting Marilyn (Sage Blue)" was sold for $195 million (about 1.312 billion yuan). This is the first time in nearly 25 years that Andy Warhol's 40-inch (101.6cm) portrait of Marilyn has appeared on the scene.
Andy Warhol, "Shooting Marilyn (Sage Blue)"
Acrylic Screen ink Linen, 101.6 x 101.6 cm
Painted in 1964
In a previous preview, Alex Rotter, President of Christie's 20th and 21st Century Art Department, said, "'Shooting Marilyn (Sage Blue)' is a representative work of American pop art. The painting transcends not only the genre of traditional American portraiture, but also the art and culture of the twentieth century. ”
Marilyn · Monroe, 1954
Warhol created the original image of the "Monroe" series
Photo by Bettmann/contributor
After the death of Marilyn Monroe, a star of the generation, in August 1962, artists began creating screen prints for her. He painted her face in bright colors and repeated it several times, but often skewed her features slightly. By 1964, Warhol had invented a more delicate but time-consuming screen printing technique, and used this special technique to create a limited number of portraits for the Hollywood legend. This technique was somehow far removed from his well-known mass production method, which was so difficult that he did not use it since. And this portrait has also become a masterpiece, forever imprinted in the history of art.
Auction site
"Shooting Marilyn (Sage Blue)" started at the auction site for $100 million, attracted fierce competition from collectors, and soon broke the Andy Warhol auction record, dropping the hammer on american collectors for $170 million, and selling for more than $195 million with commission, surpassing Picasso's "Woman of Algiers (O Version)" ($179.4 million), becoming the highest-priced twentieth-century artwork in auction history. Andy Warhol (1928-1987), hailed as one of the great American artists of the twentieth century, ranked third in the world in 2021 with a total turnover of $348 million, behind Picasso and Baschia.
Preview site
Andy Warhol
When andy Warhol is mentioned, we always refer to his intentional repetition and monotony, such as the slightly altered uniformity presented in his famous Can of Campbell Soup and Marilyn Monroe, which runs counter to the tradition of the art market, which places value—money and art—on the surface scarcity and uniqueness. 150 Years of Modern Art, of Andy Warhol, argues: "He did not create his own pattern, but imitated, a decision of social and political significance." It is both a Duchampian rebuke of the art world's exaltation of the artist as an omnipresent genius and a concern for the diminishing status of individual workers in the homogeneous world of mass production. ”
According to the relevant information of the auctioneer, the series attribute of the painting determines that the value and influence of the work will only increase. Two of the five 40-inch-square Portraits of Marilyn Monroe were already on auction in the last century, with "Shooting Red Marilyn" and "Orange Marilyn" setting new artist world auction records in 1989 and 1998, respectively. Marilyn Turquoise and Marilyn Orange were privately negotiated for $80 million and $240 million in 2007 and $240 million, respectively. The only painting that never changed hands was shot in 1967 by 20-year-old Peter Brant for $5,000.
However about the "shooting" in the title this stems from a dangerous game. In the summer of 1964, Warhol's love of cinema led him to open Silver Factory, which immediately attracted artists, mavericks, and warhol's superstars. Warhol's studio was always filled with different visitors, and their peculiar personalities became the subject of the Pop artist's photography. As The Factory became part of the artistic legend, several novel events made Warhol's story even more legendary. One of these events occurred at the end of September 1964, when artist Dorothy Podber visited Factory, a friend of Factory employees and Warhol's protagonist Billy Name, and staged a memorable and dangerous act. After Stepping out of the studio's elevator, Boulder took his pistol from his handbag and aimed at the several 40 by 40-inch Marilyn paintings that Warhol had just finished leaning against the wall.
According to artist Jack Champlin, the incident stemmed from Boulder's love of dangerous games. "At a party, Warhol asked Bod' 'Can I shoot you?' She replied , 'Sure, but I'm going to shoot you too,' and Warhol said, 'Then you come up tomorrow.'" It turned out that she understood shoot as 'shooting', so it was a conceptual work of art, playing games was her life, and she loved to play word games. ”
Although accounts of this event and the aftermath vary, these works, including The Shooting of Marilyn (Sage Blue), have become historical testimonies to warhol's saga. Today, Marilyn Monroe has been dead for many years, and all the rumors before and after her death have been forgotten. But that charming and mysterious smile is immortalized by Warhol's work.
(This article is based on past reports from Christie's, Artron and The Paper)