Andrew Warhola (known as Andy Warhol) painted a variety of paintings of the actress Marilyn Monroe after she committed suicide in 1962. Warhol made it his goal to mass-produce his art by using a method called silk screen. This method involves enlarging and transferring a photo on to silk. A variety of colors are printed on to a screen using a rubber squeegee.
For his paintings of Marilyn Monroe, Warhol used a photograph by Gene Korman from a publicity shoot for the film, Niagara. Andy Warhol painted Marilyn Monroe’s paintings with one color: green, blue, lemon yellow turquoise. Next he silk screened her face on top. In this way, he created different styles and depicted many different colors. In the paintings, she was either by herself, multiplied in a grid or doubled. After four months, Andy Warhol’s paintings were complete. Andy Warhol issued a portfolio of his Marilyn Monroe paintings in 1967.
Andy Warhol interest in fame inspired him to make his Marilyn Monroe paintings. Warhol admired Marilyn Monroe as a star. He was fascinated by her beauty and thought of her as a role model. In his art work, he portrayed Monroe as not only beautiful, but also dark and mysterious. Warhol invented the phrase, “fifteen minutes of fame” which means a celebrity such as Monroe catches the public’s attention for a short lived period of time. Then, the media moves on to other celebrities who fascinate the world.
Andy Warhol graduated from the Carnegie Institute of Technology with a major in pictorial design. After graduating, he started his career as a commercial illustrator. After failed attempts at exhibiting his work in the 1960s, Warhol decided to incorporate pop culture into his works of art. Known as pop art, Warhol used every day objects as subjects for his paintings. He became famous as “Pope of Pop” for his paintings. In addition to Marilyn Monroe, Warhol painted other celebrities in “The Factory”, Andy Warhol’s studio in New York.
Those interested in Andy Warhol’s artwork and paintings of Marilyn Monroe can view them at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Andy Warhol Museum is one of the biggest museums featuring only one artist in the world. The museum features more than four thousand works of art by Warhol. His works of art include paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, films and videos. In addition to Warhol’s artwork, visitors can find information on Andy Warhol’s life.
