Painter Andy Warhol’s painting of actress Marilyn Monroe sold for $195 million at auction.
This was the highest amount paid for a work done in the 20th century.
It is also the highest amount paid for the work of an American artist.
Warhol, one of the pioneers of the Pop Art movement, made the painting inspired by the Monroe photograph in 1964.
Christie’s auction house valued the painting at around $200 million before the auction.
The auction sale price of the painting was $170 million. However, with taxes and surcharges, the sale price rises to $195 million.
The highest amount ever paid for the work of an American artist was $110 million.
That piece was made by Jean-Michael Basquiat, who was also friends with Warhol.
Warhol’s painting also broke the 20th century artwork sales record.
The previous record belonged to Picasso’s 1955 painting ‘Women of Algiers’.
This painting sold for $179.4 million, including additional fees.
Compared to the Mona Lisa
Bloomberg reports that the painting was acquired by art galleries owner Larry Gagosian.
Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe painting was compared to the Mona Lisa by some experts.
Christie’s auction house announced that all proceeds will go to a Swiss-based foundation working for children’s education.
Andy Warhol is known as the founder and most important representative of pop-art, which emerged in the 1950s and became a trend in the 60s.
In this genre, which emerged as a reaction to the abstract painting that spread in the 1940s, especially in the USA and England, artists mostly presented ready-made objects and popular culture images as works of art.