Marilyn Monroe (Monroe) (F. & S. II.28): Screenprint from the Marilyn series by Andy Warhol

  • BACK TO: MARILYN SUITE In Marilyn (F. & S. II.28), Marilyn Monroe’s face is rendered in a cool, saturated blue,...
    Marilyn Monroe (Monroe) (F. & S. II.28), 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
     

    In Marilyn (F. & S. II.28), Marilyn Monroe’s face is rendered in a cool, saturated blue, set against a soft pink background that enhances the contrast across the composition. Her platinum-blonde hair appears in bright yellow with vivid green shadows, creating a frame around the face, while her features are defined through sharp tonal shifts. Pale pink eyeshadow softens her gaze, while her lips, outlined in red and filled with green and pink accents, form a bold focal point. The interplay of these unexpected colours gives the portrait a heightened, almost electric quality, emphasising the stylised nature of the image.

     

    Part of the Marilyn Monroe, 1967, portfolio, published by Factory Additions in New York, this screenprint is based on a publicity still from the 1953 film Niagara. Created shortly after Monroe died in 1962, Warhol’s repeated use of her image reflects his ongoing exploration of celebrity, mass media, and reproduction. In this variation, the contrast between cool and warm tones reinforces Monroe’s transformation from a photographic subject into a constructed icon, central to Warhol’s Pop Art practice.

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  • "I don’t feel I’m representing the main sex symbols of our time in some of my pictures... I just see Monroe as just another person."

    - Andy Warhol

    Andy Warhol began producing his Marilyn images in 1962, shortly after the death of Marilyn Monroe, at a moment when her face dominated newspapers, film, and popular culture. Warhol translated a widely circulated photograph into a repeatable silkscreen image, aligning Monroe with the mass-produced imagery that defined post-war America. The 1967 Marilyn Monroe portfolio formalised this approach into a set of ten screenprints, each varying in colour but identical in composition, reinforcing his interest in repetition, celebrity, and the mechanics of image reproduction.