The first lot, a work by American conceptual artist Mike Bidlo, “Not Picasso (Bather with Beachball)”, valued at $60,000 to $80,000, went for $1.3 million with fees.
The collector Peter Brant, sitting in the third row, bought the third lot, Francesco Clemente’s “Fourteen Stations, No. XI”, for $1.9 million, more than an estimated $80,000 to $120,000. Then dealer Larry Gagosian bought Cy Twombly’s blue, green, and purple painting on a wood panel for about $17 million, more than the high estimate of $15 million.
By comparison, the Marilyn screenprint — which Rotter recently called “the most important 20th-century painting to be auctioned in a generation” — felt like an anticlimax. Yes, it set a record, but speculation ahead of the auction pushed the painting to a whopping $400 million. Instead, the auctioneer seemed to wring the bids, with the painting eventually going to Gagosian; it was unclear on whose behalf he was bidding.
“The expectation was very, very, very high,” said art consultant Abigail Asher. “It was an incredibly healthy price, but at the same time I believe the buyer has struck a deal. It is one of the icons of 20th century art.”
Some wondered if the stock market’s poor performance on Monday would have dampened the bid for “Marilyn”. Warhol’s painting, one of five in a series, is based on a promotional photo from the actress’ film ‘Niagara’, part of a series of ‘Shot Marilyn’ portraits. In 1964, a woman with a gun walked into the Warhol’s Factory studio and fired at a pile of four Marilyn paintings. (The canvas up for auction at Christie’s is not pierced by the bullet.)
The Ammann siblings bought the work in 1998 from media mogul SI Newhouse Jr.; that year, Newhouse bought Warhol’s “Orange Marilyn” (1964) from Sotheby’s for $17.3 million. After Newhouse’s death, in 2017, billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin privately bought that work for about $200 million.
