Warhol Women | Marilyn Monroe

Shortly after Marilyn Monroe committed suicide on August 5, 1962, Warhol­­—whom British art collector and dealer Anthony d’Offay described as being “obsessed by death” [1]—began working on portraits of the Hollywood star. A year later Warhol mused on the emergence of death as a major theme in his work during that period: “I guess it was the big plane crash picture, the front page of a newspaper; 129 DIE. I was also painting the Marilyns. I realized that everything I was doing must have been Death.” [2]

Both Mint Marilyn (Turquoise Marilyn) (1962), and Licorice Marilyn (1962), were exhibited at the Stable Gallery, New York, in November of 1962. [3] Reviewing the exhibition in Art International the following month, art critic Michael Fried advocated for Warhol’s Marilyn series as a poignant symbol of the age:

“An art like Warhol’s is necessarily parasitic upon the myths of its time, and indirectly therefore upon the machinery of fame and publicity that market these myths; and it is not at all unlikely that these myths that move us will be unintelligible (or at least starkly dated) to generations that follow. This is […] to register an advance protest against the advent of a generation that will not be as moved by Warhol’s beautiful, vulgar, heart-breaking icons of Marilyn Monroe as I am. […] Marilyn is one of the overriding myths of our time.” [4]

In honor of our exhibition Warhol Women, we’re sharing some of the stories behind the artist’s iconic portraits. Visit the Happenings page each week to read more!

Notes:

[1] Alistair Sooke, “Jackie Kennedy: Andy Warhol’s Pop Saint,” BBC Culture, April 18, 2014. https://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20140418-jackie-warhols-pop-saint.
[2] Georg Frei, Neil Printz, and Sally King-Nero, eds. The Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonné, Warhol 01 Paintings and Sculptures 1961-1963 (New York; London: Phaidon, 2002), 224.
[3] Georg Frei, Neil Printz, and Sally King-Nero, eds. The Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonné, Warhol 01 Paintings and Sculptures 1961-1963 (New York; London: Phaidon, 2002), 227, 232.
[4] Michael Fried, “New York Letter,” Art International (December 20, 1962), 57, quoted in Frei, Printz, and King-Nero, eds. The Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonné, Warhol 01 Paintings and Sculptures 1961-1963 (New York; London: Phaidon, 2002), 224.