Name: Marilyn (F. & S. II.28)
Brand: Andy Warhol
Rating: 5 (236 reviews)

Track auction value trend

The value of Andy Warhol's Marilyn (F. & S. II.28) is estimated to be worth between £110,000 and £160,000. This signed screenprint, created in 1967, has shown consistent value growth, with an average annual growth rate of 4%. This artwork has an impressive auction history, having been sold 32 times since its initial sale on 14th October 1998. In the past 12 months, the average selling price was £118,363, across a total of 1 sales. Over the last five years, the hammer price has ranged from £85,620 in September 2020 to the current maximum value in September 2023. The average return to the seller over the past five years has been £93,593. The edition size of this artwork is limited to 250.

Meaning & Analysis

Andy Warhol’s screen print Marilyn (F. & S. II.28) from his renowned Marilyn series was published in 1967 by the artist and his assistants under the name Factory Additions. The series, made up of 10 screen prints depicting the legendary actress Marilyn Monroe, is based on a publicity photograph taken by Gene Kronman from her film Niagra (1953).

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Warhol exemplified the playfulness of his screen printing method by layering a number of different screens to create a variety of unique colour combinations in each print. This print shows the photographic image layered with vivid hues of blue, orange and pink, set against a baby pink background. In using this technique Warhol engages in the act of commercial artproduction by appropriating and repeating Monroe’s image excessively, so as to mirror the mechanical forms of reproduction found in mass-media that he was so fascinated by. This idea of assembly-line production was reinforced by Warhol’s ‘Factory’ that opened in New York in 1964, where he produced many of his screen prints, noting: ‘Mechanical means are today and using them I can get more art to more people. Art should be for everyone.’

This portfolio has become the largest screen print series of Warhol’s career and probably his most famous, establishing his critical acclaim as one of the most ubiquitous artists of the 20th century. Warhol’s juxtaposition between the photographic image and high saturated, flattened colour in this Marilyn (F. & S. II.28) print, has become synonymous with the trademark Warholian style and 20th century popular culture more generally.