Marilyn Monroe 28 by Andy Warhol presents the actress in a striking collision of cool and warm tones. Warhol renders Monroe’s face in a pale mint-blue that reads as cosmetic rather than natural, flattening her features into a mask-like surface. In contrast, acid yellow hair frames the face, edged with irregular green shadows that replace natural contour. Her lips burn a saturated crimson-red, sharply outlined and isolated against the cooler tones. A soft pink background surrounds the head, heightening the contrast and pushing the face forward. As a result, the colors feel artificial and deliberate, giving the portrait a sense of poised brightness that never fully settles into realism.
Marilyn Monroe 28 and the 1967 Marilyn Portfolio
Marilyn Monroe 28 is a screenprint from Warhol’s 1967 Marilyn Monroe portfolio, a series of ten portraits that would become some of his most iconic images. Warhol based each print on the same publicity photograph taken by Gene Korman for Marilyn Monroe’s 1953 film Niagara. Rather than seeking variation through pose or expression, Warhol relied on color alone to shift mood and meaning. As a result, each image feels distinct despite sharing the same photographic source.
Fame, Repetition, and the Making of an Icon
Warhol first turned to Marilyn Monroe as a subject in 1962, shortly after her death, beginning with the now-famous Marilyn Diptych. Her suicide marked a turning point in his work, intensifying his interest in fame, mortality, and public image. For Warhol, Monroe embodied the contradictions of American celebrity: beauty paired with vulnerability, mass adoration shadowed by loss. Her image continued to grow in symbolic power after her death, becoming less a person and more a cultural figure.
In this portfolio, Warhol presents Marilyn not as a private individual but as a shared public image. The screenprint process reinforces that distance. Commonly used in commercial production, it mirrors the industrial systems Warhol saw shaping modern identity. Through repetition and flat color, he transforms Monroe into a consumable symbol, one endlessly reproduced and circulated.
Marilyn as an Idea
Sensitive to the public’s idealization of famous figures, Warhol recreates Marilyn not as an individual but as an idea. This shift becomes clearer when viewed historically. In the 1950s, the American public regarded Monroe as a sex icon, and her acting career brought her global fame. People across the world consumed and enjoyed her image. She became a staple of America’s visual culture.
For Warhol, this media saturation had consequences. Specifically, Monroe’s image had come to symbolize the entertainment industry itself and the commodification of identity. It also embodies Hollywood aspiration, excess, and longing, distilled into a single, endlessly reproducible image. In his Marilyn Monroe artworks, he captures the cultural imagination of his era and reflects our collective desires back to us.
Marilyn Monroe 28 in Warhol’s Larger Body of Work
Marilyn Monroe 28 reflects Warhol’s broader fascination with consumer culture and the mechanics of fame. Much like his portraits of Liz Taylor or his branded imagery, the work treats identity as something manufactured and displayed. Here, Monroe appears polished and distant, stripped of imperfection and fixed in color. The result is not a portrait of a woman, but an image of celebrity itself—bright, iconic, and suspended between glamour and artifice.
Photo Credit: Warhol Holding Marilyn Acetate I, 1964. Photo by William John Kennedy.
