Andy Warhol Marilyn Monroe (Marilyn), 1967 FS 25 is an eye-catching portrait of Marilyn Monroe. By the way of the outrageous palette to the extreme intentionally off registration of the color, the myth of the famous and admired actress is confronted. To create this powerful portrait, Warhol transformed the photographic source, a promotional still taken by studio photographer Gene Kornman for the film Niagara, 1953. Despite the photographic beginnings, Monroe is hardly recognizable with this altered version of the silver screen star, donning a lime-green complexion with her facial features defined in the complementary opposite, a bright red. The hallmarks of Marilyn Monroe’s beauty, her stylish hair, fluttering eyes, beauty mark, and sultry pout are transformed visually and conceptually. Monroe’s curly bob is an artificial yellow rather than a platinum blond. The artifice of her beauty is further accentuated through the off center alignment of her lipstick, and fluorescent eyeshadow.

Created in 1967, this Andy Warhol Marilyn Monroe FS 25, color screenprint on paper is hand signed by Andy Warhol (Pennsylvania, 1928 - New York, 1987) in pencil on verso. Numbered from the edition of 250 with a rubber stamp on verso; aside from the edition of 26 artist proofs lettered A-Z on verso. Printed by Aetna Silkscreen Products, Inc., New York and published by Factory Additions, New York.

History:

The iconic Andy Warhol Marilyn Monroe screenprints were created using a process called silkscreen printing, which is also known as serigraphy. Warhol used a variety of source materials for his artwork, including photographs, such as Polaroids, and other mass media imagery.

For his Marilyn Monroe series, Warhol famously used a publicity photograph from the 1953 film "Niagara" starring Marilyn Monroe. He selected a photograph that depicted Monroe's face in a close-up, which he then transferred onto a silk screen.

The silkscreen process involves blocking out areas of the screen with a stencil, leaving open mesh areas through which ink can be pressed to create the image. Each color in the artwork required a separate screen, so Warhol would have created multiple screens for the different colors he wanted to use in his prints.

Warhol's process involved simplifying the image into areas of color, often using bright, bold hues characteristic of the pop art movement. By repeating the image multiple times in different colors and arrangements, he created variations that became a hallmark of his style.

Andy Warhol Marilyn Monroe painting auctions for $195 million: Larry Gagosian purchased the Marilyn Monroe artwork by Andy Warhol at a Christie's auction in 2022. This turned became the second-best outcome ever for an artwork sold at auction. In 1964, Andy Warhol painted Sage Blue Marilyn.

The Andy Warhol Marilyn Monroe Series:

Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe screenprint portfolio of 1967 features ten colorful images of the iconic actress based on a publicity still of Monroe from the movie Niagara. Marilyn Monroe’s degree of fame and celebrity situate her as an ideal subject for Warhol’s fascination with celebrity culture and the ways in which it intersects with art and commerce.

Andy Warhol had a complex relationship with Marilyn Monroe, the iconic Hollywood actress and sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s. The artist was fascinated by Monroe's celebrity status and her tragic life, which ended with her death by suicide in 1962. Warhol was drawn to her as a symbol of the fleeting nature of fame and the way in which celebrities can become commodified by the media and popular culture.

However, some critics have argued that Warhol's depictions of Monroe were exploitative and objectifying, reducing her to a one-dimensional image rather than recognizing her as a complex and multi-dimensional being. Nevertheless, Warhol's relationship with Monroe and his allure towards her legacy continue to be a subject of interest and debate in the art world.

The Marilyn Monroe screenprint portfolio is also an exploration of the artistic process itself, as Warhol used a photographic image of Monroe as the basis for his prints and manipulated it using a silkscreen technique. The result is a series of images that are both familiar and distorted, blurring the lines between reality and artifice.

This screenprint is part of a portfolio of 10 works Warhol created in 1967 titled Andy Warhol Marilyn Monroe and are each illustrated and referenced in the catalogue raisonne as FS II 122 to 131. The artworks in the Series include Marilyn Monroe FS II 22, Marilyn Monroe FS II 23, Marilyn Monroe FS II 24, Marilyn Monroe FS II 25, Marilyn Monroe FS II 26, Marilyn Monroe FS II 27, Marilyn Monroe FS II 28, Marilyn Monroe FS II 29, Marilyn Monroe FS II 30, Marilyn Monroe FS II 31.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
Andy Warhol Marilyn Monroe FS 25 (Marilyn), 1967 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the sale of the work).

1.  Feldman, F. and Schellmann, J. Andy Warhol Prints: A Catalogue Raisonné 1962 – 1987, 4th Ed. New York: Distributed Art Publishers, Inc.: 2003. Andy Warhol Marilyn Monroe FS 25 is listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. II. 25.
2. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany our Andy Warhol Marilyn Monroe FS 25.

About the Framing:
Framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, Andy Warhol Marilyn Monroe FS 25 (Marilyn), 1967 is presented in a complementary moulding and finished with silk-wrapped mats and optical grade Plexiglas.