Marilyn Monroe (Monroe) (F. & S. II.23): Andy Warhol screenprint on paper

  • Andy Warhol Marilyn Monroe F. & S. II.23 1967 screenprint pink face yellow hair turquoise background Pop Art print
    Marilyn Monroe (Monroe) (F. & S. II.23), 1967
    Screenprint on paper, 91.4 x 91.4 cm edition of 250 signed in pencil and numbered with a rubber stamp on verso, plus 26 signed AP and lettered A-Z on verso
    Printer: Aetna Silkscreen Products, Inc., NY, Publisher: Factory Additions, NY
    © The Andy Warhol Foundation
    BACK TO: Marilyn Suite
     
    Marilyn Monroe (F. & S. II.23) is part of the celebrated Marilyn Monroe, 1967, portfolio, produced by Factory Additions in New York. In this screenprint, Marilyn Monroe is rendered with pale pink skin set against a soft turquoise background, creating a cooler, more subdued palette than other variations in the series. Her platinum-blonde hair appears in vivid yellow with dark grey shadows, framing the face with a halo-like intensity, while mint-green eyeshadow and sharply defined features introduce subtle but striking contrasts. Her lips, outlined in red and filled with muted grey tones, draw the viewer’s focus, balancing delicacy with graphic precision. The restrained yet unconventional colour choices heighten the sense of artifice, echoing the stylised language of studio makeup and publicity imagery.
     
    Although Monroe died at just thirty-six, Warhol preserves her image at the height of her fame, drawing from a publicity still for the 1953 film Niagara, where she starred as Rose Loomis. Warhol never met Monroe, yet her death had a lasting impact on his work, leading him to revisit her image repeatedly over the following decades. In this print, she appears not as a fleeting individual, but as a fixed and enduring icon, central to Warhol’s exploration of celebrity, image, and mass media.
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  • "As for whether it’s symbolic to paint Monroe in such violent colours: it’s beauty, and... it’s pretty colours."

    - Andy Warhol

    The Marilyn screenprints sit at the centre of Warhol’s wider exploration of American culture, celebrity, and mass production, and remain a cornerstone of major art collections worldwide. As art critic Arthur C. Danto observed in the Feldman/Schellmann Catalogue Raisonné, figures such as Marilyn, Elvis, and Jackie became as instantly recognisable as commercial brands, reflecting Warhol’s interest in the intersection of fame, consumer culture, and image repetition.