When Marilyn Monroe died in August 1962, she ceased to be merely a movie star and ascended into the realm of modern mythology. While she was the most photographed woman in the world during her life, her death triggered a seismic shift in how she was perceived visually. She became a canvas upon which artists projected themes of fame, tragedy, consumerism, and beauty.
In the decades since, Monroe has been painted, printed, and collaged more than perhaps any other figure in history. From the Abstract Expressionists who sought to capture her chaotic energy to the Pop Artists who mass-produced her face like a soup can, Marilyn became the ultimate secular saint of the art world.
Here are the 10 most famous and significant paintings of Marilyn Monroe.
1. Marilyn Monroe by Steve Penley
Artist: Steve Penley Link: View Artwork at Penley Art Co
Topping our list is a striking contemporary interpretation by American artist Steve Penley. Known for his bold, gestural style and reimagining of historical icons, Penley’s Marilyn Monroe 3 strips away the candy-colored excesses of Pop Art to reveal something more raw and dignified.
Rendered in a high-contrast monochrome, this piece captures the "classic" Marilyn—the heavy-lidded gaze and the confident smile—but executes it with loose, dynamic brushwork. Unlike the detached, mechanical reproductions of the 1960s, Penley’s work feels deeply personal and tactile.
It reminds us that before she was a symbol, she was a woman of immense power and charisma. The stark black-and-white palette emphasizes her timelessness, proving that her image requires no neon embellishment to command a room.
2. Marilyn Diptych (1962) by Andy Warhol
Location: Tate Modern, London
Completed just weeks after her death, this is arguably one of the most important artworks of the 20th century. Warhol used a publicity still from the film Niagara to create two silver canvases containing 50 images of the actress. The left side features heavily saturated, electric colors, while the right side portrays the same image in ghostly, fading black and white. The work is a brilliant meditation on her life and death: the relentless, repetitive fame on one side, and her mortality fading into oblivion on the other.
3. Shot Sage Blue Marilyn (1964) by Andy Warhol
Context: Sold at Christie’s
While the Diptych is a museum staple, Shot Sage Blue Marilyn is the record-breaker. In 2022, it sold for $195 million, becoming the most expensive 20th-century artwork ever sold at auction.
The painting’s history is as dramatic as its subject: performance artist Dorothy Podber visited Warhol’s studio and shot a stack of four "Marilyn" canvases with a revolver. This specific blue version, with the bullet hole repaired, remains the most pristine and intense of the series. The sage blue background locks her face in a cool, celestial suspension.
4. Marilyn Monroe (1954) by Willem de Kooning
Location: Neuberger Museum of Art, New York
Long before Warhol’s screenprints, Abstract Expressionist Willem de Kooning painted this chaotic, ferocious portrait. Unlike the slick surfaces of Pop Art, de Kooning’s Marilyn is a storm of slashed brushstrokes and aggressive oil paint.
It was painted while she was still alive and at the height of her fame. De Kooning captures the violence of celebrity culture—the way the public devoured her image—rendering her trademark smile as a grotesque, almost desperate grimace amidst a sea of swirling colors.
5. Marilyn Monroe, I (1962) by James Rosenquist
Location: The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York
James Rosenquist, a former billboard painter, approached Marilyn as a fractured landscape of American consumerism. In this large-scale work, he does not present a cohesive portrait.
Instead, he presents shattered fragments of her face—a smile, an eye—interlaced with inverted branding, specifically the script from the Coca-Cola logo. Rosenquist suggests that Marilyn had become a commodity, just another product to be consumed by the masses alongside soft drinks and cars.
6. My Marilyn (1965) by Richard Hamilton
Location: Tate, London
British Pop Artist Richard Hamilton offered a more intimate, psychological perspective. My Marilyn uses contact sheets of photos taken by George Barris shortly before Monroe’s death.
Marilyn had personally reviewed these photos, crossing out the ones she hated with a heavy grease pencil or scratching the negatives. Hamilton enlarged these rejected images, preserving her violent "X" marks. It is a powerful work about agency, showing Marilyn’s attempt to control her own image and the aggressive act of erasing herself.
7. Marilyn (Vanitas) (1977) by Audrey Flack
Location: University of Arizona Museum of Art
Audrey Flack, a pioneer of Photorealism, returned Marilyn to the tradition of the "Vanitas"—a 17th-century style of still life meant to remind viewers of the inevitability of death. In this hyper-realistic painting, a photograph of Marilyn sits on a table surrounded by symbolic objects: a burning candle (time running out), a pocket watch, a rose, and makeup.
It is a somber, technical masterpiece that treats Monroe not as a cartoon, but as a tragic historical figure whose beauty was fleeting.
8. The Only Blonde in the World (1963) by Pauline Boty
Location: Tate, London
Pauline Boty was the founders of British Pop Art and one of the few women in the movement. Her perspective on Monroe was unique: she identified with her. In this painting, Boty isolates a laughing Marilyn, striding confidently in furs, sandwiched between abstract geometric panels. While male artists often focused on Marilyn as a sex object or a tragedy, Boty celebrated her vitality and energy.
The title reflects the isolation of fame—Monroe is the "only" one, separated from reality by the abstract noise around her.
9. Marilyn (Décollage series) by Mimmo Rotella
Context: Mimmo Rotella Foundation
Italian artist Mimmo Rotella created art by destroying it. He famously ripped down layers of movie posters from the streets of Rome, tearing away the top layers to reveal the images underneath—a technique known as "décollage."
His works featuring Marilyn Monroe look weathered and archaeological, as if we are discovering her image beneath the ruins of a city. They speak to the durability of her myth; even when torn and tattered, her face remains instantly recognizable.
10. Mao Monroe (1952/1970s) by Salvador Dalí
Context: The Dalí Museum
The master of Surrealism, Salvador Dalí, collaborated with photographer Philippe Halsman to create this disturbing and fascinating composite image. Dalí superimposed Marilyn’s face onto the head of Chairman Mao Zedong.
The result is a jarring hybrid of capitalist glamour and communist authoritarianism. It is a classic Dalí provocation, merging two of the most recognizable faces of the 20th century to question the nature of mass worship—whether for a movie star or a dictator.
The Face That Launched a Thousand Brushes
More than sixty years after her passing, Marilyn Monroe remains the "patron saint" of visual culture. From Steve Penley’s bold, monochromatic tribute to Warhol’s mass-produced screens, these paintings prove that her image is inexhaustible.
She has evolved from a Hollywood actress into a universal hieroglyph for desire, fame, and mortality.
As long as artists grapple with what it means to be looked at, they will continue to return to Marilyn.
She is the ghost in the gallery, forever smiling, forever young, and forever watching us watch her.