An American Idol Marilyn Monroe in Pop Art

Date of Award

2009

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Clark, Maribeth

Keywords

Art History, Pop Art, Monroe, Marilyn

Area of Concentration

Humanities

Abstract

Due to Pop artists' use of mass-produced images, the sensational media coverage of Marilyn Monroe's death in 1962 contributed to her popularity as a subject in Pop art. In the years following her death, many have studied her unabating presence in American visual culture as a venerated idol, but few have chosen to survey her as an idol solely within Pop art. I begin by defining the Pop art movement and examining the events of Monroe's death that contributed to the exploration of her iconic status by Pop artists. The remainder of the thesis is divided into three sections that examine the depictions of Marilyn Monroe as an idol within Pop art. I explore the establishment of Monroe as an icon (1953-1962), the affirmation of Monroe as an icon (1963-1972), and the continuation of Monroe as an icon (1973-Present). By dividing the works by time period, I demonstrate the way in which Pop artists continue to depict Monroe as a revered American idol since her death. By drawing comparisons to examples of iconography in revious art movements, these chapters demonstrate the ways in which Pop artists establish the continuation of Monroe as a powerful icon within American popular culture.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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