Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe portrait sells for record $195m

Andy Warshol would be turning in his grave he if knew about the eye-watering price his Marilyn Monroe portrait fetched on Monday.

His1964 silk-screen portrait of Marilyn Monroe "Shot Sage Blue Marilyn" was sold for $195m at an auction in New York.

The iconic portrait has the vivacious beauty smiling from fluorescent pastel colours, looking both lively and otherworldly.

The painting is built on a promotional photo of Monroe from the 1953 film Niagara, screened with bright colors over her eyes, hair and lips, The Guardian reported.

With this sale, Warhol who died in 1987 posthumously sets a record price for a work by an American artist.

Warhol, who was the leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art in 1960s, set to work a series of portraits of Marilyn after her death in 1962.

Marilyn's portrait was the best known among Warhol's portraits of personalities and he was later credited with widely used expression of today "15 minutes of fame".

The iconic portrait was sold by Christie's at an auction in New York on Monday, with pre-sale prices often touching as high as $200m.

It was sold at the hammer price of $170m, before added fees putting it at $195m breaking the previous record for an American artwork at an auction, according to The Guardian.

Alex Rotter, the chairman of 20th and 21st Century art at Christie's, described Shot Sage Blue Marilyn as the pinnacle of American pop art.

"The painting transcends the genre of portraiture, superseding 20th century art and culture, " The Guardian quoted Alex Rotter as saying.

One of Hollywood's best-known stars, Monroe died of an overdose at her home in Los Angeles on 4 August 1962.