Round Marilyn
- Year1962
- MaterialAcrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas
- Year of acquisition2000
- Inventory numberUAB 504
- On viewGround floor
- Copyright© 2023 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Haydar Koyupinar, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich
More about the artwork
In 1962, Andy Warhol discovered screen-printing for his art. By using this technique, he was able to serially integrate media images into his painting. Now a famous and often-copied portrait series, Warhol embarked on his paintings of the actress Marilyn Monroe after her death in the summer of 1962. He used a press photo for the film “Niagara” (1953); her idealized image is seductive and of breathtaking beauty. For three works in the series, he primed the canvas in gold; two of the works were created as tondos. The golden background, which in sacred art symbolizes the realm of the divine, bestows her with a quasi-religious aura. But Monroe’s sanctity had already been crushed at this point. Whether it was suicide or contract murder (still a matter of speculation today), her death was not least the product of a society that feasts on the fame of its stars as relentlessly as it indulged in their demise.
