Andy Warhol | Marilyn (Castelli Graphics Retrospective, 1981)

Andy Warhol (1928–1987)
Marilyn (Castelli Graphics Invitation), 1981
Screenprint in colours on smooth wove paper | 30.5 × 30.5 cm

This screenprint was produced in 1981 as an invitation for Castelli Graphics — the print publishing arm of Leo Castelli's legendary New York gallery, which had been central to the careers of Warhol, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Roy Lichtenstein since the late 1950s. The image reproduces Warhol's iconic 1967 Pink Marilyn (Feldman and Schellmann II.30): hot pink ground, acid yellow hair, magenta lips — the colour choices that transformed a publicity photograph into one of the most reproduced images in the history of art.

The Castelli Graphics invitation prints occupy a specific position in Warhol's printed output: they are not multiples produced for the primary market, but functional objects — printed invitations — that happen to be exquisitely produced screenprints by one of the twentieth century's most important artists. Their small size (30.5 × 30.5 cm) and their origin as invitations give them a particular intimacy that the large-format Marilyn editions do not have.

The Marilyn image, fourteen years after its first iteration, remained Warhol's most potent and commercially significant subject. He understood this, which is why he returned to it. For collectors in Berkshire, Surrey, and London seeking a genuine Warhol work at a considered price point, this is an exceptional acquisition.

Available through Creed Gallery, Ascot. Private viewings by appointment. White-glove delivery throughout the Home Counties and Central London.

Screenprint in colours on smooth wove paper
30.5 × 30.5 cm
Produced as exhibition invitation for Castelli Graphics, New York, 1981
After F&S II.30
Creed Gallery Certificate of Authenticity