Christie’s offers Warhol Marilyn for $200mn
Christie’s has set ambitions high for Andy Warhol’s signature square silkscreen, “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” (1964). The auction house describes the work as “poised to become the most expensive 20th-century artwork to sell at auction” when it is offered for $200mn in May. The work vies with Pablo Picasso’s “Les femmes d’Alger (Version O)” (1955), which sold for $179.4mn in 2015 and is currently the priciest 20th-century work to sell publicly — though this is after fees and before inflation is factored in.
Certainly, the Warhol’s asking price is a record — the previous high was for Amedeo Modigliani’s “Nu couché” (1917), estimated at $150mn in 2018. (This sold for $157.2mn, including fees.) The Warhol is being offered without a guarantee from the Zurich foundation of the late siblings Thomas and Doris Ammann, to benefit children’s charities.