Warhol painting could fetch $17.5M
Filed under: Niagara Falls Info, Niagara Falls Movies — Falls_Blog @ 12:48 pm
Printed from the Review
Warhol painting could fetch $17.5M
ALISON LANGLEY
Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 02:00
Local News - Andy Warhol’s pop art version of a promotional photograph of Marilyn Monroe from the classic film “Niagara” is expected to fetch more than $17.5 million when it goes on the auction block this spring.
Lemon Marilyn is one of a series of 13 silkscreen images Warhol created in 1962, the year the Hollywood superstar died.
The famous series has its roots in Niagara Falls as Warhol based the work on a promotional photo from the 1953 film “Niagara.”
While exterior shots for the movie were done at various Niagara locations, the interiors were done at a film lot in Los Angeles.
It is not known if the original photograph, the catalyst for Warhol’s series, was taken while Monroe was in Niagara Falls.
“From what our specialist can see, it was a blank background, typical for a studio shot from that time,” said Bendetta Roux, of Christie’s New York, the auction house handling the upcoming auction.
“Apparently, it was a publicity image rather than a film still.”
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Regardless of where the photo was taken, it further adds to Monroe’s connection with Niagara Falls.
George Bailey, author of the book “Marilyn Monroe and the Making of Niagara”, was eight years old when film crews rolled into town in 1952.
His father, Manny, was a first mate on the Maid of the Mist, watched much of the filming. He was even on board when Monroe and her entourage took a ride on the boat.
According to a Review article from June 5, 1952: “Thousands of people visited Queen Victoria Park yesterday and today, but nary a glance did they cast toward the mighty cataracts. All attention was focused on the Rainbow Motel, where 20th Century-Fox was shooting scenes for the full-length Technicolor film ‘Niagara.’”
Among the crowd was 20-year-old Peter Gordon.
Gordon happened across the cast and crew when he visited the Brock Hotel for his bi-weekly hair cut at the hotel’s resident barber.
“The actors were staying at the hotel and you’d see them in the lobby signing autographs and things like that,” he recalled.
Intrigued, Gordon and his friends became regular visitors to the sets.
“We weren’t doing anything that summer, so we’d go from location to location to watch them shoot,” said Gordon, now 75.
Several Niagara Falls locations were featured prominently in the film.
The former police station on the corner of Park Street and Zimmerman Avenue was transformed into a morgue for the film.
Connie’s Lunch, a small diner that once stood on Bridgewater Street in Chippawa, was used as a backdrop.
The movie, made for just under $2.3 million, starred Monroe, Joseph Cotten and Jean Peters.
It was an instant success.
“It had two spectacular natural wonders in one location, Marilyn Monroe and Niagara Falls,” Bailey said.
Although she previously appeared in many movies, “Niagara” was her first lead role.
“It is probably the movie that, in many people’s opinion, made Marilyn a movie star,” Bailey said.
It also made Niagara Falls a star.
“Once that movie hit theatres, it really put Niagara on the map,” Bailey said, adding visitors to the city that summer topped 100,000. —
Lemon Marilyn is currently on display at Christie’s London auction house. It goes on the block at Christie’s in New York May 16.
The owner of the portrait, a U.S. collector who wishes to remain anonymous, bought the work at Warhol’s first solo exhibition in New York for $288.
Christie’s, the world’s largest art auctioneer, expects the bidding to top $17.3 million - roughly 60,000 times the original price.
A sister piece, Orange Marilyn, sold for more than $18 million in New York last fall.
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