Legendary Warhol
painting up for auction

A U.S. collector who purchased Andy Warhol's iconic pop-art portrait of Marilyn Monroe for $250 has put the painting on the auction block at Christie's, Reuters reports. Lemon Marilyn was one of 13 paintings Warhol made of her after she committed suicide in August 1962. In 2006 another painting in the series, Orange Marilyn, fetched $16.3 million, according to Reuters.

The painting was bought more than four decades ago at Eleanor Ward's Stable Gallery in New York where Warhol held his first solo exhibition of eight paintings, according to the article.

The identity of the collector was not released by Christie's.

The painting will be on public display at Christie's in London and will be auctioned on May 16 in New York. (The Advocate)