Marilyn

Andy Warhol’s preoccupation with Hollywood film goddesses manifested itself most famously in his iconic portraits of Marilyn Monroe, which he began only weeks after her tragic death in August 1962. Warhol based his famous portrait of the actress on publicity stills from the 1953 film Niagara, in which she was cast as a sultry femme fatale. Using the photo as his point of departure, he devised a superheated portrait—this one in torrid pink and passionate purple. He presents Monroe’s face as an alluring yet timeless mask of sexual longing and desire, as though she were the contemporary equivalent of Venus, the mythic Roman goddess of love. The image is both real and unreal because it uses an accurate representation of Monroe with unnatural color combinations. It suggests how celebrities often “wear” different faces, one for the public and others for private settings.

71.2170