A Closer Look:
Andy Warhol's Marilyn
Our Prints & Multiples auction on 10 December in London will offer one of the most coveted of the ten Marilyn Monroe portraits in Andy Warhol's portfolio. The vibrant red and pink Marilyn reveals the artist's ongoing relationship with his muse, as he would rework his portraits of Marilyn time and again over the course of several decades.
Carolin von Massenbach, Head of Prints & Multiples, UK, explores the evolution and inspiration behind Warhol's most iconic subject.
Carolin von Massenbach, Head of Prints & Multiples, Bonhams London.
Carolin von Massenbach, Head of Prints & Multiples, Bonhams London.
In 1962, upon hearing the news of Marilyn Monroe’s tragic death, Andy Warhol became inspired to create a portrait of the starlet. He selected a publicity still of the actress, taken from the 1953 movie, Niagara, in which Monroe plays Rose, a femme fatale who schemes a deadly plan against her husband while on holiday in Niagara Falls.
By 1967, when Warhol established his print-publishing business, Factory Additions, the actress was a familiar subject for the artist – a portfolio of 10 screenprints of Monroe in vibrant colours was one of the first prints Warhol printed and distributed through Factory. Bonhams is also delighted to be offering a hot green and red colourway of Marilyn from the same series.
To create the new iconic series, Warhol cropped the image of Monroe into a headshot and copied it in ten coloured silkscreen versions. Each image was printed from five screens: one that carried the photographic image of Marilyn, and four holding different areas of colour.
Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe (Marilyn), 1967. Sold for £152,800.
Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe (Marilyn), 1967. Sold for £152,800.
“The more you look at the same exact thing, the more the meaning goes away, and the better and emptier you feel."
- Andy Warhol
Marilyn marks the first time that Warhol created multiple images of the same subject as an art strategy. The idea of copying and recopying images takes as its source the 1935 Walter Benjamin essay, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, which proposed that mechanical reproduction devalues the aura (uniqueness) of an original artwork. Both Jasper Johns and Roy Lichtenstein later took issue with Benjamin’s notion of devaluation and instead highlighted the importance of the media in inspiring new artforms through the reuse of images.
The image of Marilyn has become synonymous with the Pop movement and even Warhol himself, as his fascination with glamour and beauty are not unlike the public at large, whose obsession with celebrities remains just as high as it was when Warhol created his first Marilyn portraits 60 years ago. It remains Warhol’s most celebrated Pop work and continues to be an icon for collectors worldwide.
Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe (Marilyn), 1967. Estimate £100,000 - 150,000.
Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe (Marilyn), 1967. Estimate £100,000 - 150,000.
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