This painting comes now for sale at Christie's in New York on November 10, lot 20B with a minimum price guarantee which is not released, as usual in such a case.
Here is how I introduced this artwork in 2013.
Andy Warhol, a former advertising illustrator turned artist, is very busy at the beginning of 1962. The mockery with which he displays the best loved consumer objects made in America becomes the thread of an exhibition at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles. Around the same time, he experiments his technique assisted by silkscreen that will allow him to increase his output as if his paintings were posters.
Marilyn's death on August 5 is a major shock to the American dream. Magazines explore frantically the last periods of her life. With opportunity, Andy understands that this tragic event will allow him to expand his themes beyond cats and soup cans.
Marilyn was dazzling. Andy chooses a film still made in 1952 to exalt his new posthumous muse. He copies the same image four times, in two columns and two rows, for a total size that now would seem small, 73 x 55 cm. In addition to the nice smile, the yellow hair before the orange background is expressing that death should not take its toll on the actress.
This is still a time for experiment. To enhance the graphic quality, Andy passes a second silkscreened layer over the acrylic. He shall quickly abandon this refinement which was not conducive to the rapid diversification wished by him for his art. This 'Four Marilyns' is one of the very first in the series devoted by Andy to this picture of the actress.
I invite you to watch the video shared by Christie's.
SOLD for $ 36M including premium