COVE

This painting is called “Marylin Monroe” by Andy Warhol released in 1962. Although the year this was painted was the same year of her death, it was essentially a commemoration to her and her influence.  It relates to both the question of perception and aesthetics first by being of someone like Marylin Monroe who has been a symbol of beauty and confidence since she first rose to fame in the early 1950s. It also tackles aesthetics simply through the painting style of “pop art” by silkscreen printing. Warhol’s style selected specifically for her portrait was due to him viewing people as “products of society rather than real human beings”(Why did Andy Warhol paint Marilyn Monroe?, n.d.). This concept implies that the way people are viewed is through the eyes of the culture and society around them rather than who they really are as humans. Marylin Monroe was perceived as an aesthetically pleasing woman, filled with confidence, but society did not know the real her. The culture made her into the icon she became for women. Society glorified her for her media personality and looks, especially her curves, leading her to become a symbol for the average woman and body positivity during the era of the 1950s and 60s. She would not have been who she was without societal and media influence. To this day Warhol’s concept can be applied to how the media molds celebrities into who they want them to be, altering the rest of society’s perception of them whether it be a negative or positive change. Warhol’s painting symbolizes the societal and mass media influence on the beauty and perception of celebrities like Marylin Monroe.

Citations:

Warhol, A. (2020). Andy Warhol. Marilyn Monroe. 1967: MoMA. Retrieved September 29, 2020, from https://www.moma.org/collection/works/61240

Why did Andy Warhol paint Marilyn Monroe? (2020, May 07). Retrieved September 29, 2020, from https://publicdelivery.org/andy-warhol-marilyn-monroe/