Lot Essay
For Andy Warhol Marilyn Monroe epitomized the glamour and the fame that he so sorely desired for himself. Soon after the actress' death in 1962 he purchased a 1950's publicity photograph of her, cropped it under the chin and converted it into a silkscreen. He then screened the image on a single canvas or repeated it up to one hundred times on larger canvases creating Multiple Marilyns. His rapid method of working resulted in slight differences in each image and unlike the earlier serial pictures of stamps and dollar bills which appear to be printed paper, the Marilyn series reminds one of strips of motion-picture film.
Nine Multicoloured Marilyns shows Warhol returning to his favourite imagery after more than twenty years. On the one hand, it reveals his nostalgia for his own work. It is no coincidence that in 1979 he produced his Big Retrospective Painting, an extraordinary ten meter long compendium of his most iconic subject matter that naturally included multiple Marilyns.
On the other hand, Nine Multicoloured Marilyns gave vent to Warhols exploratory nature. Instead of simply reusing the original photograph, he printed it reverse. The result is a stunning combination of a past subject with a new technique. As David Bourdon writes, "His Reversals recapitulate his portraits of famous faces - from Marilyn and the Mona Lisa to Mao and the wallpaper cow - but with the tonal values reversed. As if the spectator were looking at photographic negatives, highlighted faces have gone dark while former shadows now rush forward in electric hues. Sometimes this results in extravagantly melodramatic images. The reversed Marilyns, especially, have a lurid, otherwordly glow, as if illuminated by infernal footlights." (David Bourdon, Warhol, New York 1989, p.378)
Nine Multicoloured Marilyns shows Warhol returning to his favourite imagery after more than twenty years. On the one hand, it reveals his nostalgia for his own work. It is no coincidence that in 1979 he produced his Big Retrospective Painting, an extraordinary ten meter long compendium of his most iconic subject matter that naturally included multiple Marilyns.
On the other hand, Nine Multicoloured Marilyns gave vent to Warhols exploratory nature. Instead of simply reusing the original photograph, he printed it reverse. The result is a stunning combination of a past subject with a new technique. As David Bourdon writes, "His Reversals recapitulate his portraits of famous faces - from Marilyn and the Mona Lisa to Mao and the wallpaper cow - but with the tonal values reversed. As if the spectator were looking at photographic negatives, highlighted faces have gone dark while former shadows now rush forward in electric hues. Sometimes this results in extravagantly melodramatic images. The reversed Marilyns, especially, have a lurid, otherwordly glow, as if illuminated by infernal footlights." (David Bourdon, Warhol, New York 1989, p.378)