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Sold: Most expensive piece of 20th century art: BBC News Review 2022



Andy Warhol’s painting of Marilyn Monroe has become the most expensive piece of artwork by a US artist ever to sell at auction.

Rob and Neil look at the vocabulary used in the headlines about this story.

Related stories:
News Review: Great Barrier Reef in danger https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tZk9S_UJnM
6 Minute English: Money and lifestyle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsOnAHAY6to

Video chapters:
0:00 – Introduction
0:30 – Story
1:30 – Headline 1: The Guardian – Andy Warhol’s iconic Marilyn Monroe portrait sells for record $195m
4:30 – Headline 2: RTE – Iconic Warhol portrait of Marilyn Monroe fetches record $195 million
7:00 – Headline 3: The wire.in – Why Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe Portraits Continue to Enthral
8:53 – Language summary

Key words and phrases:
iconic
very famous; represents an idea
– Elvis Presley’s iconic jumpsuits are a symbol of the 1970s.
– The iconic Gangnam style video was a massive YouTube hit in the 2010s.

fetches
sells for a certain amount of money
= I put my old bike on an auction site, and it fetched twice as much as I originally paid!
– Can you fetch me a coffee? I’m really sleepy.

enthral
keep your total attention; be extremely exciting
– The World Cup enthrals millions of viewers across the globe every four years.
– People say Squid Game is the most enthralling drama on TV in recent years.

To download the audio and a transcript and test your understanding, go to our website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/newsreview-2022/unit-1/session-21

#learnenglish #newsreview #art #warhol #marilyn #auction #vocabulary

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