The famous image shows a close up portrait of actress Marilyn Monroe, depicted in vibrant block colours (Ted Shaffrey/AP))
(Picture: AP)The world’s most important art dealer, Larry Gagosian (of Gagosian Gallery fame), parted with an eye-watering $195 million this week.
In exchange, he is now the proud owner of Andy Warhol’s “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn “masterpiece, which has now become the most expensive piece of American art — and20th Century art — ever sold.
The 1964 artwork is a close-up portrait of Monroe, depicted with vibrant yellow hair, blue eyeshadow and a deep red lipstick against a blue background. It has been called the “absolute pinnacle of American Pop and the promise of the American Dream” by Alex Rotter, Christie’s chairman of 20th and 21st Century Art. While George Frei, the chairman of the board of the Thomas and Doris Amman Foundation, has compared her “enigmatic smile” with “another mysterious smile of a distinguished lady, the Mona Lisa."
Previously held in the collection of Swiss art dealers Thomas and Doris Ammann, the proceeds of their sale will go towards their Zurich-based foundation, which works to establish healthcare and education programmes for children around the world.
Christie’s wrote of the painting, that it is “one of the rarest and most transcendent images in existence”, and originally listed it with a selling price “in the region” of $200m. The sale ended with a sale price of $170 million and rose to $195 million after taxes and fees.
In light of the groundbreaking sale, we count down the 10 most expensive artworks ever sold.
10. Masterpiece by Roy Lichtenstein – $190.5 million (adjusted for inflation)
Back in 1962 when the pop art genre was really taking off in Britain and the US, New York based artist Roy Lichtenstein created this tongue-in-cheek painting. “Why, Brad darling, this painting is a masterpiece! My, soon you’ll have all of New York clamoring for your work!” says a speech bubble issue from a cartoon blonde woman in a car. Brad features in several of Lichtenstein’s paintings, and when questioned about the figure in his art, Lichtenstein stated that he liked the name because it sounded both cliched and heroic.
In January 2017 Agnes Gund sold the 1962 painting Masterpiece, which for years hung over the mantle of her Upper East Side apartment to hedge-fund billionaire and avid art collector Steven A. Cohen for $165 million. The proceeds of the sale was used to start a fund for criminal justice reform called the Art for Justice fund.
9. Nu couché by Amedeo Modigliani – $202.3 million (adjusted for inflation)
The world’s most expensive nude was painted by Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani and was sold for $170.4 million in 2015. Featuring a nude woman lying against a mostly dark red backdrop, it caused such hysteria when it was first shown to the public in 1917 that the French police had to intervene. It was purchased by Chinese billionaire Liu Yiqian, a former taxi driver who founded two private museums in Shanghai and who reportedly paid for the purchase in a single transaction using his American Express Card.
8. Les Femmes d’Alger (“Version O”) by Pablo Picasso – $212.9 million (adjusted for inflation)
Cubist mastermind Pablo Picasso sold this striking angular artwork for $179.3 million in a May 2015 Christie’s auction. Throughout his career, Picasso painted 15 different versions of this particular work with each showcasing an altered perspective. Some of the depictions are full of vibrant colours and soft curves, while others are reminiscent of his Cubist phase with sharp edges in tones of grey. They were inspired by Eugène Delacroix’s famous depictions of the Women of Algiers (1834 and 1849), which the Spanish artist had studied at the Louvre.
Produced over three months in the winter of 1954-55, O’ was his last version and was considered to be a tribute to his friend Henri Matisse. Like so many works, the buyer has remained anonymous, but some people within the art world have suggested that it was the former prime minister of Qatar, Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabar Al Thani.
7. Pendant portraits of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit by Rembrandt – $213 million (adjusted for inflation)
Painted by Rembrandt in 1634 to celebrate the wedding of Marten Soolmans and Portrait of Oopjen Coppit, the portraits were purchased for $180 – or $90 million each in 2015, which makes them the most expensive Old Master paintings in history. As the two were happily married, art experts and historians agreed that the paintings should always be displayed together and never apart.
Therefore, when the Rothschild family decided to sell these works, which were rarely displayed in public, two museums stepped forward to purchase them. The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Louvre in Paris jointly purchased these two works by each paying 50 per cant and now take turns showcasing these treasured paintings so that the public can finally enjoy them in person.
6. No. 6 (Violet, Green and Red) by Mark Rothko – $222 million (adjusted for inflation)
Painted in 1951 by Russian-American painter Mark Rothko, the abstract work No 6. (Violet, Green and Red) privately sold in 2014 for $186 million, setting a record high for the artist while simultaneously making it one of the most expensive paintings ever.
Known for his canvases featuring vibrant colored rectangular shapes, Rothko’s painting was sold to Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, a sale facilitated by art dealer Yves Bouvier. Believing he was misled about the price of the artwork, Rybolovlev is now in a legal dispute with his friend and advisor. The ongoing court battle, which involves 32 other pieces and several other of Bouvier’s clients, is known as the “Bouvier Affair” and has been going on since 2015.
5. Number 17A by Jackson Pollock – $237 million (adjusted for inflation)
American painter Jackson Pollock is a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. His stunning piece “Number 17A” – a drippy , unique and piece that spearheaded the drip painting technique – led to an article in Life Magazine less than a year later that had the headline: “Is he the greatest living painter in the United States?”.
The artwork was the second piece purchased in a $500 million deal by hedge fund manager Kenneth C Griffin in 2015 (spoiler alert: the other one is listed further below). The painting, which sold for $200 million, is currently on display at the Art Institute of Chicago.
4. Nafea Faa Ipoipo by Paul Gauguin – $254 million (adjusted for inflation)
Nafea Faa Ipoipo translates to “When Will You Marry?” and is a 1982 oil painting by Paul Gauguin. The leading Post-Impressionist painter visited Tahiti twice, his first time being in 1891 after becoming estranged from his wife and was facing financial difficulties given the unpopularity of his art. He came up with the idea of making the voyage to paint illustrations for the most popular novel at the time, Pierre Loti’s The Marriage of Loti. Depicting two women sitting among a colourful landscape of gold, green and blue, the artwork sold in 2015 in a private sale for approximately $210 after two years of negotiation.
Although the purchaser is not confirmed, many in the art world believe that it is now in the possession of the Qatar royal family.
3. The Card Players by Paul Cézanne – $301.1 million (adjusted for inflation)
The Card Players of 1892-93 is one in a series of five produced by the French, post-impressionist painter Paul Cézanne throughout his career. The majority of his pieces are housed in world-renowned museum collections, such as the Musée D’Orsay in Paris and the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. However, this one was sold to the Royal Family of Qatar in 2011 for $210 million. They reportedly paid double the existing record for any artwork to be sold at auction, making it – at the time – the most expensive painting ever sold.
2. Interchange by Willem de Kooning – $356.1 million (adjusted for inflation)
An oil painting by the renowned Dutch-American abstract expressionist painter Willem de Kooning. The large-scale work, measuring 200.7 by 175.3 centimetres, was sold in September 2015 for $300 million US. That’s $356.1 million by today’s dollar. The 1955 piece was inspired by his surroundings whilst living in NYC, and was bought by hedge fund billionaire Kenneth C Griffin who bought it alongside his Jackson Pollock Number 17A purchase, in a $500 million deal.
While many works with private buyers often go into private collections, not allowing the public access, Griffin, who sits on the board of trustees of the Art Institute of Chicago, has loaned Interchange to the museum so that anyone who wants to see it is able to do so.
1. Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci – $519.6 million
Widely known as the “Lost Leonardo”, the painting was commissioned by King Louis XII of France in1605 but disappeared from all records between 1763 and 1900. However, in 2005 a group of British art dealers rediscovered it in 2005 and purchased the painting for $10,000.
They went on to spend six years investigating and restoring it before eventually announcing that it was an original, thus making it the first discovery of da Vinci since 1909. In 2013, they sold the work to Swiss dealer and so-called “freeport king” Yves Bouvier for a price reportedly between $75 million and $80 million, who then flipped the work to Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev for a reported $127.5 million. The colossal mark-up has meant that it is also one of the pieces involved in the Bouvier Affair.
While the art world is divided over whether it’s da Vinci’s real work or the work of one of his skilled apprentices, in 2017 it was sold for $450 million at a Christie’s auction to the Crown of Saudi Arabia, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. The painting was due to be displayed at the Louvre Abu Dhabi, however, it was later cancelled. It’s rumoured to have been held up on a Saudi prince’s yacht and reserved for display at Saudi’s very own future cultural centre in Al Ula, according to the Wall Street Journal.
