Andy Warhol Print Of Marilyn Monroe Expected To Fetch $200+ Million, Story Behind The Art Is Even Crazier

• Andy Warhol’s iconic Shot Sage Blue Marilyn (1964) is expected to fetch $200 million at an upcoming auction
• What’s even crazier is the story of why the iconic painting has a patched hole on it
• Read more crazy art world stories here

The chances are the first time you saw a piece of artwork from Andy Warhol it was one of the screenprints of Marilyn Monroe.

Now, one of those iconic Marilyn’s will be offered at a Christie’s auction here in May. The artwork is coming from the Thomas and Doris Ammann Foundation in Zurich. All the proceeds of the sale will go towards the foundation, which seeks to improve the lives of children around the world.

It’s safe to say the foundation is about to get a serious chunk of change. The estimated value of the Monroe, titled Shot Sage Blue Marilyn (1964), is about $200 million.

Christie’s American Chairman Marc Porter had this to say about the upcoming sale,

Marc Porter: “The sale of this single painting will constitute the highest-grossing philanthropic auction since the collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller in 2018.”

How the Shot Sage Blue Marilyn (1964) Painting was Made

Warhol made five of these Marilyn screenprints in 1964. The works capture the essence of Warhol’s signature pop art style, with themes of repetition, glamour, mass-production, and a dash of gimmick.

The actual technique to create the work was via screenprinting. Warhol used acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen to create the likeness of Monroe with bright yellow hair, a pink face, and cotton-candy blue eyeshadow.

Millions, if not billions, have seen at least one of the Marilyn’s in their lifetime. The artwork is often seen as a core representation of American pop and the American Dream—especially when you consider the conversations being had in America at the time this work was made.

While Shot Sage Blue Marilyn (1964) has cultural and historical significance, it also has one insane story that occurred right after it was made.

The Wild Story of Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Paintings

Not too far after Warhol had completed his Marilyn’s, performance artist Dorothy Podber came to Warhol’s studio, The Factory, for a visit.

Podber noticed four of the five Marilyns lying in a stack at the studio. Intrigued by the works of art, she asked Warhol if she could shoot them.

Warhol agreed, assuming Podber meant she wanted to take a photograph of the portraits.

Podber then pulled off her gloves and reached into her purse. She pulled out a small German pistol and raised the gun to the prints and fired a shot through the forehead of the first Marilyn of the stack. The bullet ran through the three Marilyn’s behind it.

Warhol then spent time patching up the bullet holes in each Marilyn. You can’t really notice them in any of the paintings now. The only Marilyn that doesn’t have a patched hole is the one with a turquoise background.

While there are no direct quotes from Podber as to why she did this, some of the artists simply chalked the action up to her idea of a performance piece.

True Value of Shot Sage Blue Marilyn (1964)

The main reason the $200 million dollar price value is due to precedent. Hedge fund manager Ken Griffin reportedly purchased Shot Orange Marilyn (1964) in a private sale for around that price.

If I were to add any speculation of the final sale of Shot Sage Blue Marilyn (1964), I’d say it’s likely to even eclipse the $200 million mark.

I bet the painting will certainly establish itself as the highest-paid 20th-century artwork ever sold at auction. Picasso’s Women of Algiers (1955) holds the record with a selling price of $179.4 million in 2015.

In terms of the highest ever paid for a painting in history though, Shot Sage Blue Marilyn (1964) would have multiple its estimated value by at least 2.5 times. Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi (c. 1499-1510) was bought at a Christie’s auction by Saudi Arabian prince Badr bin Abdullah for $450.3 million in 2017.

Time will tell what the final sale price of Shot Sage Blue Marilyn (1964) will be. Could it beat da Vinci’s record? Probably not, but da Vinci’s painting doesn’t have a wild story of it being shot up—that we know of.