Andy Warhols Marilyn, Great Art Explained

Andy Warhol made Marilyn Diptych in 1962, right after Marilyn Monroes death. By the 1960s Marilyns film career as a sex symbol was all but over. Warhol would effectively immortalize Marilyn as the sex symbol of the 20th century. The seductive blonde Marilyn with the heavylidded eyes and parted lips is frozen in time. She is transformed into the personification of the allure and glamour of Hollywood s Golden Age. Marilyn would make Warhol a household name, and Warhol would make Marilyn an icon. Marilyn Diptych is perhaps his greatest canvas, bringing together celebrity, death and exposure. It is both a warning and a love letter to America. Warhol, who is often criticised as vacuous or superficial, produced art, that is profoundly subversive and quite simply a perfect mirror of our times. Andy Warhol and Marilyn Monroe were both the embodiment of the American dream. They also, both projected a vacant persona that made sure nobody knew the real person behind the mask.