Andy Warhol Marilyn Monroe, 1967 (pale pink)

Marilyn Monroe's face is presented as an impenetrable mask in bright luminous colours. Published in a series of ten different colour combinations, using the impersonal screenprinting process, this multi-coloured surface portrays her image in a startlingly lurid manner. Monroe is probably Warhol's most famous subject. He used a publicity still as the basis for this series, presenting us with a frozen, pre-packaged image of Hollywood's greatest personae. The portrayal of Monroe as a product of mass culture, manufactured for the public as a consumer item, presents this work as pivital in the American Pop-Art Movement. Warhol, a printer, graphic artist and filmmaker, was a cult figure during the 1960s. He remained, however, an intensely private man, saying: "If you want to know everything about me, just look at the surface of my paintings, it's all there, there's nothing more."