The Andy Warhol Foundation gets no money when one of his paintings changes hands.
Kim Kardashian is seen arriving to The 2022 Met Gala Celebrating "In America: An Anthology of Fashion" at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 2, 2022 in New York City. Noam Galai/GC Images
Any doubt that Marilyn Monroe remains as potent a figure now as she was in 1964 was erased last Monday. That's when Kim Kardashian stole the show at the Met Gala by wearing the frock in which Monroe famously serenaded President John F. Kennedy. Cultural relevance "can never hurt" an artwork's value, says Sotheby's Jimenez.
The Foundation does receive money from licensing fees, and owns the copyright on most of the images, but such income is relatively low. In the art world, copyright is worth much less than objects.shows total assets of $337 million, and total revenue of $13.9 million — of which just $3.56 million was "other income" that includes licensing fees.The most important and valuable Warhol artworks don't belong to his foundation, or even to the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh.