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Born Norma Jeane Mortenson, Marilyn Monroe was the timeless allure of the 50s and 60s Hollywood. Despite her untimely demise at thirty-six and sixty-two years after her passing, the world still hasn’t had enough of her. This “blonde bombshell” became a symbol of sexual appeal and a fascinating enigma for the American masses. Her onscreen charm cemented her name in history as one of the biggest pop cultural icons to ever be known.
Somewhere between her controversial personal life, glamor, iconic dresses, and mysterious death, Monroe kindled a passionate love affair between fine arts and her legacy in Hollywood. She became the most famous muse of the modern art world and it reflects in all the Marilyn Monroe paintings that are being created with such fervor even today. From Andy Warhol to Willem de Kooning, Peter Blake, and many others, the list of artists this diva inspired is never-ending.
Stories Behind Iconic Marilyn Monroe Paintings
Monroe often acted as a “dumb blonde” in her movies, but those who knew her can tell you it was just that – an act by a brilliant actress. Perhaps it was the contrast between her sexual objectification on-screen and the struggle to gain agency in her life off-screen that compelled so many artists to discover the real Marilyn Monroe through their art.
Each of them brought to the table their own unique perspective, remixing and reimagining their idea of Marilyn. While there are many who attempted to create Maylin Monroe artworks, only a few of them could do justice to her life beyond the camera. Here are some of the most iconic ones of them all.
Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe
Andy Warhol is known for his celebrity printmaking. It won’t be an exaggeration to say he was obsessed with the glamor and the dark side of pop culture. Marilyn was one of the first artists he screenprinted after establishing his own publishing business. All his works, including the Marilyn Diptych, the Shot Sage Blue Marilyn, Marilyn x 100, the Gold Marilyn, and the Marilyn Monroe series have been created using the same press shot. It was a publicity shot from her film Niagara that got Marilyn the crown of a Hollywood superstar.
The most popular Andy Warhol Marilyn Monroe painting, his Shot Sage Blue Marilyn, was sold for $195 million at a Christie’s auction. This made it the most expensive painting of the 20th century to be sold at an auction. In all his works, Warhol used multiple screens to make the prints in different colors. The process led to an oversaturation of colors, giving an unrealistic appearance to the actress.
When discussing the prints, Warhol said “The more you look at the same exact thing, the more the meaning goes away, and the better and emptier you feel.” What the artist said, is also reflected in his work. If you carefully look at Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe paintings, you will notice they in deed look eerily empty. The smile looks forced with her eyes completely unfocused. It shows how iconoclasts like her eventually become bankable products and we stop seeing them as actual human beings.
Some of Warhol’s Marilyn paintings are in collections of famous art museums around the world. Popular names include the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Tate in London, Leeum Samsung Museum in Seoul, etc.
Willem de Kooning, Marilyn Monroe
Artist Willem de Kooning is known for his abstract expressionist paintings and was the earliest pioneer of this type of abstraction. The artist created his Marilyn Monroe painting in 1954 when the actress was still alive. Just like Andy Warhol, his work is also inspired by Monroe’s on-screen allure as seen in movies like Niagara and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
Even with the abstracted elements of the artwork, you can identify the classic blonde hair of the actress. Her captivating blue eyes and striking red lips are hard to miss. Willem de Kooning created this painting when Monroe was at the peak of her stardom. He painted a series called Woman and this Marilyn Monroe art follows the same style. While the painting captures all the iconic traits of the subject, they are still created disproportionately, making them unappealing to look at.
The series mocks the unrealistic societal standards of beauty and how the world expects a woman to look. De Kooning used forceful gestures of the brush to objectify the actress in his work, just like how the world saw her – as a sex symbol. The artist took away the sensual appeal from the painting and made it lack feelings, like a mannequin with a great body but no emotions. However, he kept alive the aura of mystery in this painting that also surrounded Monroe throughout her life.
James Gill, Marilyn Triptych
James Francis Gill is another artist who created Marilyn Monroe artworks shortly after her demise. He is one of the last living pioneers of pop art and those few that are enamored by the modern celebrity culture. Just like Andy Warhol, Gill has constantly revisited Monroe’s life seeking inspiration for his work. His first Marilyn art is an oil painting triptych, a pivotal work in his career, which is now in the permanent collection of MoMA New York.
While James Gill created many other paintings inspired by the diva, this one truly stands out for various reasons. The triptych is a unique depiction of Monroe, contrary to her usual graceful appearances in public. When you look at all three paintings together, they tell a story of what happens once the cameras turn off. In each panel, she can be seen sitting at the same spot but in different poses. The changes in posture add a sense of restlessness and agitation to her appearance.
Marilyn is maniacally laughing in the first painting as if the actress is on the verge of a mental breakdown. Her pose in the second painting is her attempt to get a bearing on herself before she completely loses her mind and gets naked in the final painting. Despite her being a sex symbol, her nakedness here has nothing to do with her sexual appeal but the loss of control over her life and mental state.
You can see the contrast between the real Marilyn and the actress when you focus on the wall behind her. It’s decorated with photographs of Monroe, showing her exactly how the world saw her — an unattainable object of desire. The Marilyn triptych of James Gill is perhaps inspired by Monroe’s overuse of drugs, depression, anxiety, and her attempts to gain control over her life and public image.
Audrey Flack, Marilyn (Vanitas)
Audrey Flack is one of the most famous contemporary vanitas artists known for her photorealism technique. In 1977, Flack created Marilyn (vanitas) which is now considered the pioneering work in photorealism and a shrine of Monroe.
Traditional Dutch art vanitas means still life paintings with symbolic references to mortality, fleeting time, and the inevitability of death. Upon a closer look at this Marilyn painting by Flack, you can identify several such references with a grim message. Items like the hourglass, watch, and calendar indicate the passage of time. They symbolize the unpreventable changes, including death, which in this case refers to the untimely passing away of Marilyn. The fresh fruits and flowers also indicate the decay and gradual rotting.
The burning candlestick is another reference to the end of life when the flame goes out. However, before that, the wick will burn at its brightest which is the peak of Marilyn’s career in Hollywood. Before her death, she was one of the most bankable Hollywood stars. The fire also signifies the passion with which her fans loved the starlet. The pear in its perfect shape is a testament to Monroe’s body which will now forever remain at its prime in our memories.
You can also spot Monroe’s signature red lipstick that she used to enhance the femininity and seductiveness of her characters. The 5 coats of her red lipstick have now become a signature trait of Marilyn’s identity. There’s also a bottle of perfume which relates to her statement where she admitted wearing Chanel no. 5 to bed. The rest of the trinkets and jewelry, including the lipstick are all just a mask to hide the real Marilyn away.
Finally, what truly stands out is the photorealistic image of a 22-year-old Norma before she became ‘the Marilyn Monroe.’ Her unbridled, real smile, fresh face without makeup, and pulled-back hair show the rarely seen raw side of the actress. All the items put together show Monroe’s journey from Norma Jean to the blonde bombshell who we finally lost to the never ending loop of time.
Rosalyn Drexler, Marilyn Pursued by Death
Out of 3 marriages of Marilyn, her last was with award-winning playwright Arthur Miller. The wedding day is infamous for the death of a journalist in a car crash who was trying to chase the couple. Drexler’s painting draws reference from the same incident, highlighting society's insatiable hunger for celebrity news and scandals.
In her Marilyn Monroe canvas art, Drexler used the technique of collage-making to recreate one of Monroe’s pictures from a magazine. The original photograph was of Marilyn evading the paparazzi and her bodyguard following after her. The artist isolated the two figures and collaged them on a canvas with a black backdrop and painted over the images to make it a monochrome black and white painting. The figures are outlined in red, to highlight them against the dark canvas.
By repurposing the two figures, Drexler has created a testament to the tumultuous private life of the actress. Marilyn’s battle against depression and her suicide attempts are well-known to the public. Her traumatic childhood, and yearning for love that she seldom received was a prominent part of her life. The much-craved attention was often from unwelcomed sources, leaving the actress alone despite having a fan following worldwide. Hence the title ‘Marilyn Pursued by Death’ with a painting that resonates with the actress’ fears and her loneliness seems to be a hauntingly apt fit for this narrative.
Richard Hamilton, My Marilyn
Despite being the quintessential diva of Hollywood, Marilyn was haunted by severe self-esteem issues. She was far from the confident blonde bombshell the world saw on camera. Even the body positivity facade she pulled off for the media, was far from something she resonated with.
Hamilton was another artist obsessed with celebrity life and My Marilyn stands true to that obsession. Now a part of the collection at Tate, London, the artwork explores the lesser-known side of Marilyn by the world. Whenever Marilyn was photographed, she would always review the pictures before printing and cross the ones she didn’t like. Her strong use of lipstick and multiple cosmetic surgeries were all tactics to mask her insecurities.
In My Marilyn, Richard created a collage of several such rejected photos to show the unguarded and unseen side of Marilyn Monroe. They are candid shots of her laughing heartily, or having some carefree fun at the beach in a bikini. Many of these pictures are damaged and the actress never wanted them to be seen by the world. As if she was trying to delete their existence, fearing that someone would spot the small abandoned Norma in them. In some twisted ways, even when she was far from the reach of many, Marilyn’s insecurities make the starlet a little more familiar to the common man.
The Whirlwind Romance of Marilyn Monroe and Modern Art
Very few of the 20th-century pop culture figures justify ‘iconic’ the way Marilyn Monroe does. The darker side of her life and her onscreen glamor have interwoven together to keep her admirers gripped in the everlasting charm of the actress. The passion with which she is loved even today is both poignant and piquant to see. While it keeps her alive in our minds, it has snatched away the peace she at least deserved in her death.
It is this fervor, that keeps pulling artists from every generation to the legacy of the actress, compelling them to continue it in their art. There are many contemporary artists even today who have been painting different versions of Marilyn, exploring her substance abuse, childhood traumas, silver screen appearances, and even her death. While that it-girl of Hollywood may not be with us anymore, her memories continue to fuel this love affair between fine arts and Marilyn Monroe, making her the most beloved muse of contemporary times even after six decades of her departure.