An Analysis of Andy Warhol's Gold Marilyn Monroe (1962) Essay

The woman is displayed from waist up in the central position on the canvas. She appears to be nude, her left breast exposed. Her face is upturned, gazing at something above the top of the composition. Her eyes are large and glassy; reflective pools. Her skin is clear and pale, a sign of youth and beauty. Her lips are slightly parted, and they are full and soft red in colour. The kitten looks up, at the same object as the woman. It has grey fur, red/pink rimmed eyes, ears and claws. The kitten digs it’s claws into the hand of the woman, which she holds beside her chest, cupping her hand, palm up. The kitten rests against her chest and grasps her hand, suggesting a bond or relationship between the two.

The woman painted is sitting in what seems to be a domestic setting. However, unlike many other painted black women in the Enlightenment, she is seated alone. She is not depicted serving a white woman or doing any labour. The white cloths wrapped around her head and body along with the light background creates a dramatic contrast between the light colours and her dark skin. Her breast is exposed, but she is not sexualized like in many paintings of white women of the period. Despite her less-than-modest exposure, the woman does not show any signs of embarrassment. She is not blushing and her gaze is fixed on the viewer in neither a demure nor passionate way. In fact, she seems nonchalant about her exposure.

The centerpiece of the piece is obviously Mary, though she is on the right side of the painting. In one hand she holds an open bible, and she holds her other hand up in prayer while she is looking down with her eyes almost completely shut. She has a halo surrounding her head as gold rays shine down on her

Pop Art emerged in Britain in the late 50’s and the United States in the early 60’s.(Mamiya 1992) Pop Art is generally known today as a representation of celebrating popular culture and consumerism, however it’s background and origins are far more broad and extensive. There are many factors and influences that lead to the creation of the Pop Art movement such as adjusting to life after World War II, new technological advances that lead to mass cooperate growth, the evolution of Abstract Expressionism and also social issues in the media such as feminism. (Smith 2001; Mamiya 1992) Many of these factors overlap and act as a catalyst in the creation of Neodadaism and eventually Pop Art. (Livingstone 1992) Pop Art does not have a soul distinct style nor just one major influence and this can be proven by looking at key artists of the movement such as Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg and James Rosenquist as well as female Pop artists such as Martha Rosler. (Brauer, Edwards, Finch & Hopps 2001) Exploring these artists and the major influences of their work will break down Pop Art and establish the movement’s purpose as well as its evolution.

Why did Andy Warhol choose to use famous people to represent pop-art? Warhol used his process throughout the 1960s to reproduce multiple portraits of celebrities, including Marilyn Diptych, Michael Jackson , Elizabeth TaylorV and Mao. Andy Warhol duplicated images of mass-produced commercial prints, using famous people, suggesting that the media marketed celebrities just like products. Warhol, was fascinated with the rich and famous since his childhood.

One of his jobs was to design the weather map for NBC’s morning news. In 1952 Warhol held his first exhibit, it was not a financial success, but it enhanced Warhol’s reputation as a commercial artist. But his spare time was now taken up with pop art, inspired by Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, two young pop artist, Warhol had come across in 1958. He began to paint, draw and print everyday objects such as, dollar bills, soup cans, postage stamps, comic strips, and soda bottles. According to Warhol, these were some of the consumer products “on which America is built.”

Andy Warhol was the revolutionaire who led America and the rest of the world into an era of pop art with his iconic style. “For many his ascent echoes one of pop art's ambitions, to bring popular styles and subjects into the exclusive salons of high art. His crowning achievement was the elevation of his own persona to the level of a popular icon, representing a new kind of fame and celebrity for a fine artist”(The Art Story). Although very famous in later life, he had a simple childhood; he was often sickly and he would spend time at home. Since he had a lot of time to himself he would start to use that time to learn about pop culture, and this is when he began to have an interest in art. He commenced his career by drawing shoe advertisements,

The subject of the painting is a blond Caucasian woman. It is a close up of her face. The frame contains her face and most of her lush hair. The woman's face is facing the bottom of the frame and her eyes are angled down as well. Her

In order to discuss pop art I have chosen to examine the work and to some extent lives of Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol who were two of the main forces behind the American movement. I intend to reflect the attitudes of the public and artists in America at this time, while examining the growing popularity of pop art from its rocky, abstract expressionist start in the 1950s through the height of consumer culture in the 60s and 70s to the present day.

The artist I choose is Salvador Dali. He is known to be a surrealist artist. Creating piece of art from his dream, and straight from his imagination. The painting you see above is called the Dream. Where he has painted his wife facing away from us. Salvador Deli has painted his wife twice in this picture. The first time you see her is her back up close. Where you can see the artwork he had created before on her back. Probably to show her current feeling at the time. Like she is helpless. Then, he has drawn her a second time. This, time it looks like she is fading away. Giving us a feeling that something has over taken her body, or she has just given up on something major. Allowing herself to fade away into the sky. Other person you see in the

The focal point in this artwork is of a young woman standing on the right side of the painting, wearing a white veil and a short dark blue coat

Several well-known figures such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Claes Oldenburg were artists of the pop art era. Warhol took commercial items such as cans of Campbell’s Soup and celebrities such as Elvis Presley, and put their

Pop art got its name from Lawrence Alloway, who was a British art critic in 1950’s. The name “Pop Art” reflected on the “familiar imagery of the contemporary urban environment” (kleiner, 981). This art form was popular for its bold and simple looks plus its bright and vibrant colors. An example of this type of art is the oil painting done by Andy Warhol, “Marilyn Diptych” (Warhol, Marilyn Diptych) in 1962. The Pop art movement became known in the mid-1950 and continued as main type of art form until the late 1960’s. The Pop art movement, was a movement where medium played a huge part in the society, with it reflecting on advertisements, comic strips and even celebrities, like Marilyn. This movement also has a large

The portrait is displayed horizontally with a gold trimmed frame. The subject is a female that looks to be in her early 20’s sitting upright on a large brown chair. If the viewer travels up the painting the first indication of the woman’s class is her satin, blue dress. The saturated blue shines and falls in the light like water. Paired with the dress are her exceptionally detailed endings to her sleeves. The lace is even painted as though it is translucent, allowing a little of the blue dress to show through the sleeve. Flowers throughout history have symbolized innocence of a woman and her virginity. The repeating theme of flowers, in the sleeve cuffs and ribbon) in the woman’s attired suggests her purity or innocent nature. Another very details section of the painting includes the corset/torso details. The sewing suggests texture in the torso with small beading in between. Towards the top of the chest in the center, the female seems to bear an extravagant, ribbon piece with a tear drop bead in the center. The light pink

In came to this conclusion, by the way arranged the butterflies and having the trumpet the arranged to be circular form. In addition, the moon also plays a key factor in the painting because it is representing a cycle as well. The moon’s cycle is to come up at night and go down in the morning. I believe the women is kind of letting life past her by because she is standing in one position with her eyes close to maybe indicate that she not making herself present during the process of the cycle. The artist chose to highlight her, the trumpet, the moon, and the butterflies by lighting the background surrounding them and also chose bright colors to color in the objects.