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Why did Andy Warhol paint Marilyn Monroe?
1 Answer
Andy Warhol painted Marilyn Monroe as a commentary on the media and celebrity culture. The American artist was quick to jump on mass media’s penchant for treating glamour and tragedy with equal weight. Monroe’s suicidal overdose in 1962 was ideal fodder, and he reproduced her visage dozens of times, first painting the canvas with splotches of pigment to denote her hair, eyeshadow and lips, then printing the black photographic silkscreen, taken from a 1953 publicity still, on the surface, either alone, doubled or repeated in a grid. By reproducing her image, Warhol sought to show how Monroe's fame and status as a sex symbol transformed her from being an individual person to a mass-market commodity. His work provided a sharp rebuke to the media's obsessive intrusion into the lives of celebrities. On 1stDibs, shop a selection of Andy Warhol art.
1stDibs ExpertFebruary 21, 2024
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Shop for Andy Warhol Art on 1stDibs
Ohne Titel (Bird in a cage and shoe)
By Andy Warhol
Located in Manchester, GB
Ohne Titel (Bird in a cage and shoe)
By Andy Warhol
c. 1956
ink, chalk and gold on paper
Image on Verso
43 x 35 cm. (16.9 x 13.8 in.)
Category
1950s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Gold
Greta Garbo as Mata Hari - Lithograph by Andy Warhol - 1981
By Andy Warhol
Located in Roma, IT
Greta Garbo as Mata Hari is a contemporary artwork realized by Andy Warhol in 1981.
Offset and color lithograph.
Includes frame: 104,5 x 86 x 3 cm.
Hand signed on the lower right....
Category
1980s Pop Art Portrait Prints
Materials
Offset, Lithograph
Goethe, FS II.270
By Andy Warhol
Located in Palm Desert, CA
"Goethe" is a silkscreen in colors made by Andy Warhol in 1982. The work is signed and editioned in graphite, lower left, "70/100 Andy Warhol". The artwork size is 38 x 38 inches. Th...
Category
Late 20th Century Pop Art Figurative Prints
Materials
Screen
Goethe, FS II.271
By Andy Warhol
Located in Palm Desert, CA
"Goethe" is a silkscreen in colors made by Andy Warhol in 1982. The work is signed and editioned in graphite, lower left, "70/100 Andy Warhol". The artwork size is 38 x 38 inches. Th...
Category
Late 20th Century Pop Art Figurative Prints
Materials
Screen
Original poster exhibition "The Americans Indian Series" signed by Andy Warhol
By Andy Warhol
Located in PARIS, FR
Black variation of the original poster (three variations were created: red - blue - black) for the exhibition "The Americans Indian Series" by Andy Warhol commissioned by the Ace Gallery...
Category
1970s Pop Art Prints and Multiples
Materials
Paper, Lithograph
Andy Warhol Most Wanted Men (Warhol John Joseph H., Jr. screen-print & catalog)
By Andy Warhol
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Andy Warhol The Thirteen Most Wanted Men (Dossier No. 2357) screen-print & exhibition catalog:
Scarce 1967 Warhol Sonnabend exhibition catalog which includes the sought-after Andy Wa...
Category
1960s Pop Art Prints and Multiples
Materials
Paper, Lithograph, Offset, Screen