ANDY WARHOL VS SUNDAY B MORNING

In 1967 Andy Warhol began work on his now iconic ‘Marilyn’ series, immediately following the death of Marilyn Monroe. He produced 10 variations of the image, which was from a 1953 publicity shot for the Film ‘Niagara’, each with its own colour combinations in each portfolio. There were only 250 portfolios ever produced, which has led to these works becoming some of the most sought after in the art world, with the suite of prints reaching over $1.5 million at auction. The prints were published by Factory Additions and were printed onto board 36” by 36” square. Unfortunately due to the printing techniques and paper Warhol was using in the 60’s, it is rare to find an original 1967 Marilyn without an issue with condition.

In 1970 Warhol began discussions with two anonymous Belgian friends regarding a second series of prints, with the idea behind this partnership being a commentary on mass production - one of the themes of Warhol’s art. At some point during these talks, the collaboration fell apart, for reasons that remain unknown. But by this point, the Belgians already had the original Factory photo negatives (which the stencils are made from) and the colour codes required to make the stencils and the prints. Sunday B Morning began printing regardless and the prints were released in 1970 with a black stamp on the back that read ‘Fill In Your Own Signature’. There is a debate as to whether that idea was originally Warhol’s, and it seems likely given his ‘Famous for 15 minutes’ concepts. History also stands divided as to whether or not Warhol was pleased with the prints - it did after all, tie in with his ideas on mass production. Warhol randomly signed some of the Sunday B Monday prints ‘This is not by me. Andy Warhol’, which only stood to make them more desirable.