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Why did Andy Warhol paint Marilyn Monroe?

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Why did Andy Warhol paint Marilyn Monroe?
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
Shop for Andy Warhol Art on 1stDibs
Deluxe Signed Edition of Film Festival Lincoln Center (Feldman Schellmann, II)
By Andy Warhol
Located in New York, NY
Andy Warhol Deluxe Signed Edition of Film Festival Lincoln Center (Feldman Schellmann, II.19), 1967 Silkscreen, die-cut on opaque acrylic Edition 2/200 (Signed and numbered on the back with engraving pen) Hand-signed by artist, As this work was done on acrylic, Warhol signed and numbered it by hand on verso with an engraving needle. Printed date with copyright Frame included: Elegantly framed in a museum quality wood frame with UV plexiglass. A die-cut window has been created in the back of the frame to reveal Warhol's incised signature and edition Publisher: Leo Castelli, New York Printer: Chiron Press, New York Catalogue Raisonne: Feldman Schellmann, II.19 This work is often hung and displayed both vertically and horizontally - see photos for inspiration This work is one of only 200 done on opaque acrylic rather than wove paper, signed and numbered on the opaque acrylic by Andy Warhol with an engraving pen. (Separately, there was an unsigned edition of 500 on wove paper). What distinguishes this rare, extremely desirable signed edition of 200, other than that it is signed and numbered by hand by Andy Warhol, is that the black graphic text FIFTH NEW YORK is placed directly over the text Film Festival of Lincoln Center; whereas in the edition of 500, the text black text FIFTH NEW YORK is placed on top of the white text. An innovative feature that appears in this special edition is a perforated line running across the surface of the print, at its triangular cut out sides, mimicking the tear line present in real commercial movie admissions tickets. Chiron Press commissioned by Lincoln Center, devised a special process expressly to imprint the edition with this perforation using a die cut stamp. This work is quintessential early Warhol, with characteristic bright neon colors, featuring text, along with the artist's very recognizable flower motif. The Lincoln Center ticket...
Category

1960s Pop Art Abstract Prints

Materials

Plastic, Mixed Media, Screen

Cheddar Cheese (F. S. II.63) (from Campbell’s Soup II)
By Andy Warhol
Located in Bristol, GB
Screenprint in colours on wove paper Edition 150 of 250 88.9 x 58.4 cm (35 x 23 in) Signed in ball-point pen and numbered, lower right on the reverse Condition upon request Printed b...
Category

20th Century Pop Art Still-life Prints

Materials

Screen

Mao - Screenprint by Andy Warhol - 1972
By Andy Warhol
Located in Roma, IT
Color screen print on Becket High White wove paper, realized by Warhol in 1972. Verso hand signed by the Artist in pen, as well as with the stamp numbering and the stamp "Copyright ...
Category

1970s Pop Art Portrait Prints

Materials

Screen

Original Bank by Andy Warhol pop art Gaudy savings vintage poster 1968
By Andy Warhol
Located in Spokane, WA
Original Andy Warhol 1968 Vintage Poster "Gaudy Savings by RCA Color Scanner" Authentic Pop Art Collectible First Edition Print. Archival linen-backed in excellent condition, Grad...
Category

1960s Pop Art Animal Prints

Materials

Offset

Exposures (Deluxe Edition) Monograph Hand Signed, Numbered #1 by Andy Warhol COA
By Andy Warhol
Located in New York, NY
Andy Warhol Deluxe Collectors' Edition of Exposures (Hand Signed and Numbered), 1979 Hardcover Monograph in leather with gilt edge and stamped in gilt. Hand signed by Andy Warhol on...
Category

1970s Pop Art Abstract Prints

Materials

Mixed Media, Graphite, Lithograph, Offset

Flowers #71
By Andy Warhol
Located in New York, NY
From the iconic Flowers portfolio of ten individual floral prints created by Andy Warhol in 1970, Flowers #71 is an original color screenprint, hand-signed in ballpoint pen, and numb...
Category

20th Century Pop Art Figurative Prints

Materials

Screen

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