Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987)                

Medium: Silkscreen on Museum Board

Publisher: Sunday B. Morning

Dimensions: 35" x 35" (39" x 39" with frame)

Marilyn Monroe died in August 1962. In the following four months, Warhol made more than twenty silkscreen paintings of her, all based on the same publicity photograph from the 1953 film Niagara. Warhol found in Monroe a fusion of two of his consistent themes: death and the cult of celebrity. By repeating the image, he evokes her ubiquitous presence in the media. In this version, the contrast of black and white is suggestive of the star’s mortality. 

Andy Warhol was an American artist who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as Pop Art. His works explore the relationship between expression, celebrity culture and advertisement that flourished by the 1960s. After a successful career as a commercial illustrator, Warhol became a renowned and sometimes controversial artist. The development of Warhol’s career can be seen in the progression from the delicacy of the early illustrations to the boldness of the Marilyn” series to the tension between the beauty and banality of the silkscreen’s late in his career.