Andy Warhol’s iconic Marilyn Monroe portrait tops Picasso's price at record auction

An iconic art work of Marilyn Monroe by pop art legend Andy Warhol has become the most expensive 20th-century artwork ever to go under the hammer.

The "Shot Sage Blue Marilyn sold for a record $195 million at Christie's in New York Monday evening. Originally a publicity still from Marilyn's 1953 movie "Niagara", Warhol's colorful reproductions of Monroe's photo portrait are among his most recognizable works.

The previous auction record for a 20th-century painting was the $179.4 million paid for Pablo Picasso's "Les Femmes d'Alger (Version O)" in 2015. At $195 million it tops Warhol's last prized auction by a margin. The auction record for a Warhol work was previously held by "Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster) which was sold for more than $105 million almost a decade ago