Who bought the record-breaking Marilyn Monroe portrait by Andy Warhol?

Larry Gagosian, reportedly

The front and back of “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” (1964) by Andy Warhol. Credit: Christie’s

The winning bid for Andy Warhol’s 1964 “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” on Monday reportedly came from art dealer Larry Gagosian, according to Bloomberg Businessweek, but he declined to comment and it’s unclear who he bought it for.

The 40-by-40-inch acrylic and silkscreen on ink on linen portrait of Marilyn Monroe was expected to set sales records. It sold for $195 million, breaking records for 20th century and U.S. art previously held by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso’s “Les femmes d'Alger (Version O)” (1955) and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s "Untitled" (1982), respectively.

Yello @yellopolitics

The $195 million sale of Andy Warhol's “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” (1964) breaks the U.S. record previously set by the $110.5 million sale of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s "Untitled" (1982) in 2017.

Pop Crave @PopCrave

Andy Warhol’s iconic portrait of Marilyn Monroe has been sold for $195 MILLION, making it the most expensive work by a US artist ever sold at auction. https://t.co/XLdDwqceJt

Fun fact: the late Swiss art collectors Thomas and Doris Ammann, whose estate sold the portrait at auction, originally got “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” from Gagosian, back in 1986.

“[Thomas Ammann] came to see something else, and he bought it on the spot,” Gagosian told Artnet News.

The previous record for a Warhol was set in 2013 when his “Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster)” (1963), depicting the aftermath of a car crash, sold for $105.4 million.

Subscribe to Yello. You’ll never look at politics the same way again: