Marilyn Monroe Sombre 1989

This original 1989 exhibition poster was published by Madison Fine Art in New York to commemorate an exhibition dedicated to Andy Warhol, featuring one of his most iconic subjects: Marilyn Monroe. Presented in a striking dark-toned variation of Warhol's celebrated Marilyn series, the poster transforms the Hollywood legend into a dramatic Pop Art icon through deep black backgrounds accented with subtle highlights of pink, yellow, blue, and violet.

Unlike Warhol's brightly colored Marilyn portraits, this version embraces a more mysterious and atmospheric palette. The four repeated portraits, arranged in Warhol's signature grid composition, demonstrate his fascination with repetition, celebrity culture, and the power of photographic reproduction. The darker treatment creates a striking contrast, lending the image a haunting elegance while emphasizing both glamour and mortality—central themes throughout Warhol's work.

Andy Warhol (1928–1987) created his first Marilyn Monroe screenprints in 1962, shortly after the actress's death. Using a publicity still from the 1953 film Niagara, he transformed Monroe's image into one of the defining icons of twentieth-century art. Through repeated silkscreen printing and bold experimentation with color, Warhol blurred the boundaries between fine art, advertising, and mass media, forever changing the language of contemporary art.

Issued just two years after Warhol's death, this 1989 Madison Fine Art exhibition poster reflects the immense international recognition his work had already achieved. During the late 1980s, major galleries and museums organized important retrospective exhibitions celebrating Warhol's lasting influence on Pop Art and contemporary visual culture. Posters from these exhibitions have themselves become highly collectible, documenting the growing legacy of one of America's most influential artists.

The minimalist typography, dominated by vivid red lettering against a black background, perfectly complements the dramatic imagery while reflecting the clean graphic aesthetic associated with Warhol's own visual language. Combining exhibition history with one of the artist's most recognizable motifs, the poster functions equally as an advertisement and as a work of graphic design.

Today, Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe images remain among the most recognizable artworks of the twentieth century, with examples held in major institutions including The Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Andy Warhol Museum, and leading collections around the world. This original 1989 exhibition poster captures the enduring fascination with both Warhol and Marilyn Monroe, making it an excellent collectible for admirers of Pop Art, twentieth-century graphic design, fashion, cinema, and contemporary culture.

Original Poster

Exhibition - Pop art

Magidson NYC Fine Art

Good condition