Marilyn Monroe (Black Marilyn) (F. & S. II.24): Screenprint from Warhol's Marilyn Portfolio

  • Screenprint of Hollywood actress Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol in monochrome.
    Marilyn Monroe (Black Marilyn) (F. & S. II.24), 1967
    Screenprint on paper, 91.4 x 91.4 cm, 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
     

    In this variation, Marilyn Monroe’s face is rendered in pale, almost monochrome tones against a deep black background that intensifies the contrast across the composition. Her features, including softly shaded eyelids, darkened lips, and signature curls, are defined through layers of grey and black ink, giving the portrait a restrained, almost photographic quality. Unlike the more vividly coloured versions in the series, Black Marilyn retains a closer connection to the original source image, echoing the tonal range of film stills and reinforcing the work’s presence.

     

    Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe (F. & S. II.24), often referred to as Black Marilyn, is one of ten screenprints from the Marilyn Monroe (1967) portfolio, produced by Factory Additions in New York. Based on a publicity still from the 1953 film Niagara, Warhol crops and enlarges the original photograph into a stark close-up portrait. Created shortly after Monroe’s death in 1962, the work reflects his early engagement with themes of fame, loss, and mass media, translating a widely circulated image into a simplified, graphic icon through the silkscreen process.

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  • "My idea of a good picture is one that’s in focus and of a famous person."

    – Andy Warhol

    Produced as a limited edition of 250 with additional artist’s proofs, Monroe (Black Marilyn) (F. & S. II.24) belongs to one of the most recognised bodies of work in Pop Art. Warhol’s repeated engagement with Monroe’s image reflects his broader interest in celebrity, media reproduction, and the ways photographic images shape cultural memory.  Through the repeated printing and variation of Monroe’s likeness, Warhol draws attention to the overlap between fine art and the mechanisms of commercial image reproduction.