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Warhol picture (on May 9th)
Photo: SARAH YENESEL/EPA
Motive and creator are probably equally legendary.
This is also reflected in the price.
A portrait of the actress Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962) by US artist Andy Warhol (1928-1987) was auctioned in New York for around 195 million US dollars (around 185 million euros) - making it the most expensive work of art ever auctioned from the 20th century.
The 1964 »Shot Sage Blue Marilyn«, which is based on a photograph and shows the actress against a turquoise-blue background with yellow hair, red lips and turquoise eyeshadow, was auctioned at Christie's auction house on Monday, kicking off the traditional spring auction.
The auction lasted only four minutes.
The Monroe portrait is "one of the rarest and most extraordinary images in existence," the auction house wrote.
"Andy Warhol's Marilyn is the absolute pinnacle of American pop and the promise of the American dream that combines optimism, fragility, celebrity and iconography," said Alex Rotter, Christie's director of 20th and 21st century art .
Only a Leonardo da Vinci brought more at auction
Only Leonardo da Vinci's painting »Salvator Mundi«, which dates from around the early 16th century and sold at auction in 2017 for $450.3 million, has fetched more at auction so far, making it the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction.
The previous record for a 20th-century work was set by Pablo Picasso's Les femmes d'Alger (Version 0) (The Women of Algiers), which fetched $179.4 million at auction in May 2015.
It was initially unclear who bought the "Shot Sage Blue Marilyn", which was previously estimated at "around 200 million dollars".
The picture comes from the Thomas and Doris Ammann Foundation in Zurich, which intends to use all proceeds from the auction for charitable purposes.
The previous record for a Warhol painting was $105.4 million.
jok/dpa