About 58 years ago, Andy Warhol screen printed Marilyn Monroe in a collection of ten final prints.
Warhol was an American visual artist. After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Art from what is now Carnegie Mellon University, he moved to New York to become a commercial artist. Early in his career, he focused on commercial work until he devoted himself to the world of pop art, according to his biography from The Andy Warhol Museum.
“Warhol was a modern/pop artist,” said Christine Gallagher, a graphic design instructor at Oregon State University, over email.
His work incorporated different forms of media, including photography, film, painting and printmaking. Much of Warhol’s work was inspired by his fascination with pop culture, media and high society. Some of his work centers social icons; his famous Campbell soup collection was an example of an everyday low-status icon, while his collection of Marilyn Monroe prints was a more popular, higher class icon.
Gallagher explained that the pop art movement was concerned with just that: popular culture. It could be objects, people, brands or anything to be considered “cool” at the time. Monroe was and still is, highly considered to be a sex symbol. Warhol’s choice of subject matter was intended to incite a response from the public, according to Gallagher.
“Marilyn Monroe personified Hollywood glamour with an unparalleled glow and energy that enamored the world,” according to her biography from the Marilyn Monroe Collection. She married Joe DiMaggio and performed for the troops in Korea during their honeymoon. The performance nearly caused a riot, which created tension between her and DiMaggio. Afterwards, she became a sexual icon, which later caused her divorce from DiMaggio.
Monroe didn’t want to be seen as just a blonde bombshell and the opportunity eventually arose for her to become a serious actor. The 1962 Golden Globes named her the female World Film Favorite and, during August of that same year, Monroe was found dead in her home.
Warhol created his prints of Monroe in 1967, only a handful of years after her death. He was enamored by her, and what her symbol meant. Monroe was a popular fashion icon, known for her extravagant wardrobe and undeniable beauty; setting makeup, body, and fashion trends alike. Warhol choosing her as his subject matter was him exercising the fascination he had for her, according to Gallagher. His work was so influential because he chose such a popular subject matter. There were attitudes about high and low art that he, like Jean-Michel Basquiat, was able to blur the line between. He had an obsession with the work he was creating.
The presentation of Warhol’s work was important to him. He challenged the subject matter and created a piece worthy of a fine art status, despite presenting images in a “garish, in-your-face” way, according to Gallagher.
In this piece, he used advertising from the 1953 film, “Niagara,” something not originally his own. In the image, Monroe is staring at the viewer; this, mixed with the vibrant colors Warhol chose, set the pop into the art. Now, the Marilyn piece is a recognizable motif that Warhol is known for — not only for the prints, but creating the style itself as well.
