Jesse James
Art from the iconic Andy Warhol will soon be up for auction by Christie’s New York. This May, Shot Sage Blue Marilyn will hit the auction block, boasting a current estimated price of $200 million USD. Warhol began creating silkscreens of the American actress after her death in 1962. He reproduced the image in bright colors and sometimes with features skewed.
Shot Sage Blue Marilyn is part of a collection that included four silkscreen canvases entitled The Shot Marilyns. In 1964 American performance artist Dorothy Podber visited Warhol’s Silver Factory in 1964. She noticed a stack of Marilyn paintings and asked if she could shoot them.
Warhol, assuming she was going to photograph the images, allowed her to “shoot” the paintings. To his surprise, Podber pulled out a revolver and shot through the stack of portraits. A fifth painting was created for the series but was not included in the stack. Warhol later painted over the bullet holes, and Podber was allegedly barred forever from the studio.
The Sage Blue Marilyn by Andy Warhol comes from Thomas and Doris Ammann Foundation Zurich, and all proceeds from the sale will benefit the foundation. The foundation focuses on “improving the lives of children the world over by establishing support systems centered on providing healthcare and educational programs.”
Alex Rotter, Christie’s Chairman, 20th and 21st Century Art, stated: “The most significant painting to come to auction in a generation, Andy Warhol’s Marilyn is the absolute pinnacle of American Pop and the promise of the American Dream encapsulating optimism, fragility, celebrity and iconography all at once.” Rotter added, “The painting transcends the genre of portraiture in America, superseding 20th-century art and culture. Standing alongside Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, and Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, Warhol’s Marilyn is categorically one of the greatest paintings of all time and a once in a generation opportunity to present this masterpiece publicly at auction.”
Head over to Christie’s to learn more about the auction and when to place your bids. In the meantime, keep it locked with The Culture Curators for more art news, auctions, and exhibitions coming soon.
Photos via Christie’s
