Russell Young Marilyn in Korea 1954 For Sale

Marilyn Monroe Prints | Russell Young | Guy Hepner, New York

Market Performance

Russell Young's Marilyn Monroe series is among his most commercially significant bodies of work, with auction results at Christie's, Phillips, and Bonhams confirming sustained collector demand. Works in the series have achieved prices from £3,000 for smaller editions to over £20,000 for large-format diamond dust and metallic works in excellent condition.

About the Series

In his Marilyn Monroe series, Russell Young engages with the most reproduced face in the history of celebrity — an image so over-familiar that it has become almost invisible, and which his practice renders startling again. Working from photographic source material and using his signature combination of silkscreen, diamond dust, metallic inks, and enamel on canvas, Young transforms Monroe's face into something simultaneously iconic and intimate.

The series spans multiple colourways, scales, and surface treatments. Works such as Marilyn Crying, Marilyn Portrait, Marilyn Hope, and Marilyn in Korea deploy different aspects of Monroe's public image — the glamorous Hollywood star, the vulnerable private person, the historical figure — with Young's characteristic graphic precision and surface richness.

The Marilyn Crying images are perhaps his most emotionally resonant: Monroe photographed in a moment of visible distress, the diamond dust and metallic surface treatments amplifying rather than softening the emotional charge. These works sit in a direct line from Warhol's Monroe prints while establishing a distinctly different emotional register.

Collecting Marilyn Monroe Works

Guy Hepner has been a primary source of Russell Young's Marilyn Monroe editions in New York. We maintain inventory across colourways and sizes, with direct access to new releases. Contact us for current availability, pricing, and condition reports.