The 6 Interesting Facts About Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe Portrait

In less than four minutes of bidding, Andy Warhol's iconic portrait of Marilyn Monroe sold for a record $195 million in New York on Monday.

The 1964 silkscreen image of Monroe, called Shot Sage Blue Marilyn, was made after the Hollywood star's death two years earlier. The portrait is based on a promotional photo of Monroe from the 1953 film Niagra.

"Shot Sage Blue Marilyn is the absolute pinnacle of American pop," Alex Rotter, chairman of 20th and 21st century art at the auctioneer Christie's, said. "The painting transcends the genre of portraiture, superseding 20th century art and culture."

The sought-after portrait — which depicts Monroe with a pink face, red, lips, yellow hair and blue eyes —was bought by an unnamed buyer on Monday.

Monroe, who was hailed as a sex symbol and fashion icon, appeared in 29 films, including Don't Bother to Knock and Some Like It Hot. She died of a drug overdose in Los Angeles in August 1962.

Here are six interesting facts about the Warhol portrait.

The Portrait is the Most Expensive Piece of 20^th Century Art Ever Sold

The previous record was set in 2015 by Les Femmes D'Alger (Version O), a 1955 Pablo Picasso painting that sold for $179.4 million.

Christie's had initially said it was expecting bids for Shot Sage Blue Marilyn in the region of $200 million.

It Is the Most Expensive Work By a U.S. Artist To Be Sold At an Auction

The previous record-holder was French artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, whose 1982 painting of a skull-like face fetched $110.5 million in 2017.

The Portrait Was Nearly Shot By A Revolver

Shot Sage Blue Marilyn was nearly part of a series of portraits of Munroe by Warhol called the "Shot Marilyns". Warhol painted Marilyns in 1964 with different colored backgrounds: red, orange, light blue and sage blue.

Warhol stored the 40 inch by 40 inch canvases at The Factory, his studio in Manhattan. Dorothy Podber, a friend of The Factory photographer Bill Name, saw the paintings in the studio and asked Warhol whether she could shoot them. The artist thought she meant photograph the paintings, but she actually meant shooting them with a gun.

Podber put on a pair of gloves, brandished a small revolver from her purse and fired a shot into the pile of four of the five Marilyn paintings, damaging them. The fifth painting, which was sold for the record price on Monday, was not in the stack, so it was not damaged. The four others became known as the "Shot Marilyns."

It would not be the last time shots were fired in Warhol's studio, in 1968, Warhol was shot by Valerie Solanas over a dispute about a play script Solanas had written.

The Proceeds from the Portrait's Sale Will Go Towards Children's Healthcare and Education

The proceeds of the sale will go to the former owners of the artwork, the Zurich-based Thomas and Doris Ammann Foundation, which works to establish education and healthcare programmes for children around the world, Christie's said.

It Has Featured in Galleries From London To New York

Shot Sage Blue Marilyn has previously been shown at galleries including the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Centre Pompidou in Paris and London's Tate Modern.

Warhol Used A Technique To Make The Portrait He Was Not Known For

The American pop artist used a method called silkscreen printing, which copies image on paper or canvas using a layer, after Monroe's death.

In 1964, Warhol developed a more "more refined and time-intensive" new process that was "antithetical to the mass production he was best known for", Christie's said in a news release in March. Shot Sage Blue Marilyn was one of a small group of works where he used that technique, before later abandoning it.