I) Introduction to the work
A_ The artist
Andrew Warhol was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, on August 6, 1928. Andy was the fourth son of Czech emigrants. His father died in 1942 when he was only 14 years old and had just recovered from a serious illness: the Saint-Vitus dance, which lasted almost three years. He then studied at the “Carnergie Institute of Technology” in his hometown between 1945 and 1949 where he discovered advertising. He then began his career as an advertising designer in New York. He works for Glamour, Vogue, The New Yorker and Harper's Bazaar. In 1960, he tried painting but quickly gave up. He then developed a completely new working theme: he screen-printed consumer products (Coca-Cola, Campbell's soup) to divert them: Warhol said that the work of art is a commodity. He quickly achieved great success. From 1962, he revisited photos of stars, the most famous of which was Marylin Monroe. His technique is to take black and white photographs, color them and then reproduce them by screen printing industrially in his workshop: Factory. This production of the work in series calls into question the principle of the rare and unique work of art. Warhol becomes the king of Pop art. He is also called the master of screen printing. He died on February 22, 1987 in New York of a sudden heart attack following an operation.
B_The context
1 Definition
Pop art, or popular art, is an English word meaning popular art. It is characterized by the role of the consumer society: the artists of this movement show us the influence that advertisements, magazines, comic strips, etc. have on Man by diverting these objects from our daily life and these icons. Pop art uses rather industrial techniques (acrylic, screen printing, use of bright and offbeat colors). Furthermore, this movement is a turning point in the artistic world because it calls into question the principle of uniqueness of the work of art which is desecrated. We can indeed see in the image that Warhol reproduces Marylin in series and identically.
Screen printing takes its name from the silk with which the “screens” (a kind of stencils) which are used with this printing technique are made. These silk screens are located between the ink and the support. During screen printing, part of this screen is masked (by using a photographic process) and the ink only passes through the bare parts of the silk screen, and therefore is only deposited in certain specific locations. on the support (board, bottle, etc.).
The screen printing technique has the advantage of being able to be applied to varied supports and not necessarily flat (bottles, boxes, textiles, machines, wood, etc.) and on large surfaces.
2 Appearance
Pop art was born at the end of the 1950s in England and then developed in the United States. This movement seems simple and is appreciated by the American population.
C_The work
Title: Marilyn Diptych
Artist: Andy Warhol
Date: 1967
Type: Acrylic on canvas
Technique: Screen printing (printing and therefore production technique which is widely used in advertising)
Artistic movement: Pop Art
Dimensions: 205.4 x 144.8 cm
Exhibition location: Tate Gallery, United Kingdom
D_The subject of the work
Norma Jeane Mortenson was born on June 1, 1926 in Los Angeles, California, United States. American actress and singer, she became world famous in the early 1950s. Many actresses and celebrities are inspired by this Hollywood star! Jayne Mansfield or Madonna for example. Some even imitated the sex symbol's way of presenting themselves in public. Its success was immense but never satisfied Marilyn Monroe who was dissatisfied and unhappy throughout her life. She died on August 5, 1962 in Los Angeles: committing suicide with an overdose of sleeping pills.
This painting belongs to the theme Art, Rupture and Continuity and falls into the field of visual art.
How is the heroic image of the star sullied by Andy Warhol?
II) Description of the work
Marylin's paintings take a photo from the film Niagara. They were started shortly after the star's death.
A This painting represents a series of 50 portraits of Marilyn Monroe repeated over the entire surface of the painting which is separated into two equal parts: one in color, the other in black and white; it is a diptych. The figure occupies the entire space creating an accumulation effect. Warhol chose a serial layout. The lines of force in the image correspond to a grid which gives an ordered effect. This reinforces the rational side of the image instead of producing emotion. The uniform background painted flat (the colored surface is of the same shade and the same power) gives a neutral side to the image.
B Both parties (common)
In both parts of the diptych, Marylin's face is stylized (simplified): she no longer seems to have any expression, she is frozen. In addition, Warhol uses the screen printing technique: this is how the face was multiplied. The image of the sex symbol is thus soiled by the defects of the ink. We also notice that Marylin’s face is never really clear.
However, the images are identical but also different: in some portraits, the makeup is more or less marked, there are more or less shadows on his face and the quality of the details varies depending on the portraits.
C The left part
On the left panel, the images are very colorful. Marylin's unrealistic face stands out against the uniform orange background. Her skin color is unnatural, her hair is an unnatural yellow, and her bright red and turquoise makeup give us the impression that she is wearing a mask. The repetition of the image reduces the star's face to its main features: lips, white teeth, eyes, hair, mole and eyebrows; that's all. No imperfections, no wrinkles or pimples, no dimples, no creases on the chin for example; nothing that could make his face look natural.
D The right part
On the right panel, the images are black and white. The ink defects are numerous, particularly on the second column. The portraits become more and more blurred when reading the table from left to right, finally disappearing in the last face on which we can barely make out the main details of the star's face. Here too, even despite the absence of colors, we can see Marylin's makeup stand out in a supernatural way (see her mouth). This panel recalls the unfolding of a film and thus represents the career of the actress.
III) Analysis of the painting
This work is an evocation of the death of Marilyn, whose face freezes definitively before fading away. She alludes to the personal drama of the immensely successful actress, prisoner of her own image, condemned to always having to resemble her.
A_ The meaning of the left panel
The left panel symbolizes Marylin's Hollywood life, a star's life during which the artist is loved, famous, recognized, she appears happy! The contrasts between the warm colors evoke his successes and his failures, his joys and his disappointments. In short, it represents his life as his admirers perceived it. Above all, the 25 colorful images impress and Marylin's life appears attractive and desirable.
B_ The meaning of the right panel
On the other hand, the right panel is made up of sad colors: black, white, and a dull gray. These are probably the two contradictory sides of the actress: on the right, it is the hidden side of Marylin, her intimate feelings, what she did not reveal: she would have liked to be listened to, to be listened to. considers them as a normal person before viewing them as a supernatural being. But she couldn't show that to her audience and ultimately committed suicide. This panel therefore represents the life of the actress as she felt it, then her death. C_ WARHOL’s message
By repeating the portrait of the star in this way, Warhol evokes the two aspects of Marylin (private and public) and thus achieves a fusion of two of his recurring themes: death and the cult of celebrity.
Furthermore, the star's face repeated in the painting trivializes her. Warhol lines up the Marilyns like he lined up cans of Campbell’s soup. The image of the actress is then reduced to a consumer product, a commodity. This refers to the commerce that was being done in the world based on her image and which required Marylin to play a permanent role to the detriment of her well-being and personality. Indeed, by repeating her portrait, Andy recalls the omnipresence of Marilyn in the media.
Finally, Andy Warhol does not seek to glorify Marylin Monroe, but on the contrary, by representing her in series until she fades, he emphasizes the fact that she is a mortal human being like any other. It only retains its appearance and erases all traces of personality and naturalness. It also simplifies the artist's work, completely breaking with the portrait genre since it depersonalizes the celebrity. Quote from Warhol: "The more you look at exactly the same thing, the more it loses all its meaning, and the more you feel good, with an empty head."
IV) Conclusion
To conclude, what Warhol does with this portrait of Marylin also refers to all the iconized women that we can find in magazines where they are reduced to simple consumer objects.
There is therefore a destructive effect on the icon of the star. Warhol is thus iconoclastic on two levels: here he destroys the image of a star in particular: Marylin Monroe, but also the work of art as a unique piece. In this work, Andy Warhol subverts the image of a cinema heroine to make her a sort of anti-hero.
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