147. Marilyn Diptych. Andy Warhol. 1962 CE. Oil, acrylic, and silkscreen enamel on canvas.

• Form and Content
  • Marilyn Monroe’s public face appears sequentially as if on a roll of film
  • Fifty images from a film still from a movie, Niagara
  • Social characteristics magnified: brilliance of blond hair, heavily applied lipstick, seductive expression
  • Private persona of the individual submerged beneath the public face
  • Marilyn’s public face appears highlighted by bold, artificial colors
  • Left, in color, represents her in life; right, in black and white, represents her in death; work done four months after her tragic death
  • Repetition of faces reflects the repetition of the number of times Marilyn appeared before the public; sometimes overexposed, sometimes underexposed
• Materials and Technique
  • Silkscreen printing technique applies photographic images in rectangular shapes onto a canvas background
  • Silkscreen diminishes the role of shading and emphasizes broad planes and unmodulated color
  • Diptych format suggests almost a religious presence
• Context
  • Cult of celebrity; Monroe was a famous movie star of the 1950s
  • Repeated imagery drains the image of Monroe of meaning
  • Reproduction of many denies the concept of the unique work of art