The famous Marilyn Monroe painting by Andy Warhol sold for $ 195 million at a Christie's charity auction Monday night, setting a record for the most expensive American art work ever sold.
Warhol's iconic painting broke the previous record set by the untitled's skull painting of Brooklyn-based artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, which grossed $ 110.5 million at a Sotheby's auction in New York in 2017. Warhol had held the record ahead of Basquiat after his 1963 work, "Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster)", sold for $ 105.4 million in 2013.
All proceeds from the sale will go to the Thomas and Doris Ammann Zurich Foundation, which put the painting up for auction. The foundation aims to help children with health care and education programs.
The painting has an interesting story. The five silk wallpapers originally painted in 1964 were stored in Warhol's New York studio, The Factory. According to Artsy, performing artist Dorothy Podber stopped and asked if she could "shoot" them, and he said yes, assuming he meant with a camera. Podber pulled out a gun and shot them all except the Turkish color.
Warhol restored the four paintings and they became known as the "Shot Marilyns."
All five paintings have been sold for various sums of money over the years. First, in 1967, the blue background painting sold for $ 5,000. The orange background sold for $ 17.3 million in 1998, then went to hedge fund manager Ken Griffin for a rumored $ 200 million.
