Four Pink Marilyns (Reversal Series)

This work is part of the Reversal series which Warhol began in 1979. He discovered that by printing the negative image of his subjects he could totally re-invent his own art. This famous image of the Hollywood star, whose celebrity, glamour and tragic death so captivated Warhol has become both a powerful icon of its time as well as bringing Warhol's career as a Pop artist full circle. In the present work, the contrast between the pinks and the blacks in the dark negative format lends each face a souless and ghostly quality. The repetition of Marilyn's image adds up to a particularly poignant portrait that has as much to do with the the mass media's propagation of her legend, as with Warhol's own history and myth in a refreshing and powerful way.