Which actress appears in Andy Warhol’s 1962 painting Marilyn Diptych?

Marilyn Monroe appears in Andy Warhol’s 1962 painting Marilyn Diptych. The work repeats a publicity photograph of Monroe in two facing panels.

Warhol based the image on a still from the 1953 film Niagara, in which Monroe starred. The left side is brightly colored, while the right side gradually fades into black-and-white tones. This contrast has often been interpreted as a meditation on celebrity, publicity, repetition, and mortality.

Warhol created the painting shortly after Monroe died in August 1962. Its repeated face turns a recognizable publicity image into a visual pattern, showing how mass media can circulate and transform a person’s public identity.

Marilyn Diptych is sometimes confused with Warhol’s other Monroe portraits, including his Marilyn series. The diptych is specifically the large two-panel work that combines vivid color with a fading monochrome side.