A portrait of Marilyn Monroe by Warhol sold for 195 million dollars

A famous portrait of Marilyn Monroe by American pop art master Andy Warhol became the most expensive 20th century work of art ever sold at public auction on Monday.

Amount of the transaction: 195.04 million dollars (approximately 185 million euros), costs included.

Shot Sage Blue Marilyn

, a painting executed in 1964, two years after the tragic death of the glamorous Hollywood icon, left in four minutes in a crowded room at the headquarters of Christie's house in the heart of Manhattan, during the spring auction launch party.

The buyer remains unknown

Dozens of Christie's intermediaries were present, hanging on their phones to take orders from buyers.

But it is from the room, where the work was enthroned, that the last offer left, victorious.

According to several auction specialists present on the spot, it came from the American art dealer Larry Gagosian, owner of the galleries of the same name, but it was not known whether he was acting on his behalf or that of a client.

Christie's, owned by the very large French fortune François Pinault, did not wish to comment on the buyer.

Shot Sage Blue Marilyn narrowly fell

short of the $200 million estimate put forward by Christie's before the sale, which does not prevent it from beating the previous record for a 20th century work at auction.

The Women of Algiers (version 0) by Pablo Picasso was sold for $179.4 million in May 2015. The absolute record, all periods combined, remains held by the

attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, auctioned in November 2017 for 450 .3 million.

An enigmatic smile on a turquoise blue background

The portrait of Andy Warhol was part of a collection put up for sale on Monday evening by the Zurich-based Thomas and Doris Ammann Foundation, named after Swiss art dealer and collector Thomas Ammann, a friend of Warhol's who died of AIDS in 1993, and of his sister Doris.

All proceeds from the sale, or $317 million made on 34 of the 36 lots sold, will go to this foundation, which is dedicated "to improving the lives of children" through health and education, according to Christie's.

Painted in silkscreen ink and acrylic,

is one of five one-meter-by-meter portraits of vivid, saturated and contrasting colors that the New York artist produced in 1964 from from a photo for the promotion of the film Niagara (1953).

Pink face, blond hair and pronounced lipstick, the actress reveals an enigmatic smile, on a turquoise blue background.

For Richard Polsky, who runs a company that authenticates works of art, notably Warhol,

manages to combine two icons.

“Marilyn Monroe was an icon in America (…) she is part of popular culture.

And Warhol, it's like the Beatles, every year he is more popular”, he underlines.

"When you put them together, it's an explosion, it's like a chemical reaction," he added to AFP, to explain the success of the work.

A canvas made legendary after an incident

In 1962, Warhol had already made works from the same photo of Marilyn Monroe: a canvas with fifty faces,

, now on display at the Tate Modern in London, as well as a

which adorns the walls of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.

But four of the five

of 1964 take their name from an incident that makes their legend.

In Andy Warhol's studio in Manhattan, “The factory”, a visiting artist, Dorothy Podber, had asked if she could “photograph” the paintings (“shoot” in English).

Warhol had accepted, not understanding that she was then going to pull out a revolver and shoot four portraits.

To the naked eye, no trace appears today of this incident on the work.

The auction record for a Warhol belonged to

, a monumental canvas depicting a car crash, which sold for $105 million in 2013.

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