Screen print in colors on paper, unsigned, presented in modern silver frame under plexiglass.

SS 32.5 x 32.5 in.; DOA 33 x 33 in.

Accompanying letter of provenance states: "In 1981 I was working at the Nourse Gallery in Georgetown (DC; 3217 N St, NW), doing the matting, framing and sales. Chip Nourse, the owner, one evening, went to a hotel on K St., at 12th or 13th St, as I recall, and bought four Warhol Marilyn's. His understanding was that one of Warhol's silk-screeners and Warhol had had a serious falling out, whereupon the screener had taken the 'Marilyn' silks and gone to Europe. When in need of funds, or perhaps to annoy the artist, he printed a few copies and sent them with a European art dealer who came yearly to the K St. location to sell works on paper. / Mr. Nourse had me frame one, while the others were to be left unframed. / Warhol was in DC that year for the opening of his show at the Corcoran, as well as to promote his new magazine, 'Interview.' / I learned that Warhol was to be at a boutique along Wisconsin Avenue one afternoon, and for anyone who brought a copy of the magazine, he would sign anything of his. / I grabbed the three unframed copies of the 'Marilyn' and took them to be signed. As I got to Warhol and had laid out the prints, one of Warhol's assistants came running forward yelling: 'Don't sign those! They're stolen!' I looked at Mr. Warhol and reminded him that he had committed to signing anything of his. And, without saying anything at all, he signed all three. / When I next saw Mr. Nourse, I told him what I had done, and as my reward for quick thinking, not to mention my bold insistence to Warhol, I was given the fourth, framed and unsigned copy. / I have had it since then." -Evan Hays Sheppard, Lecturer, Department of Art, College of Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina.

Originally produced after Marilyn's death in 1962, this image was produced in a series of 10 various color combinations, transforming a still shot into a Hollywood and art historical icon.

Pen point size paint loss to nose, minor creases at corners, slight color variation streak to upper right, examined out of frame.

$1,000 - 3,000