Guy Hepner Gallery

Russell Young Marilyn Korea For Sale

Russell Young
Russell Young - Marilyn Korea, 2006, Acrylic paint screenprint on somerset paper

Marilyn Korea, 2006

Acrylic paint screenprint on somerset paper

46 1/2 x 35 in ; 118.1 x 88.9 cm ; Edition of 50

About this work

Russell Young’s diamond-dusted Marilyn portraits capture the magnetic duality that has defined Marilyn Monroe’s legacy for generations. Using archival images of Monroe at her most radiant and most vulnerable, Young transforms her familiar visage into something newly intense and emotionally layered. The diamond dust coating shimmers like the flash of paparazzi bulbs, reinforcing the glamour that made Monroe an icon, while simultaneously underscoring the illusion and fragility behind her public persona. Up close, the glittering surface reveals subtle tension in her expression—moments of longing, introspection, or exhaustion that puncture the myth of perpetual perfection. Young’s portraits invite viewers to reconsider Marilyn not as a distant Hollywood symbol, but as a profoundly human figure shaped by the pressures of fame, desire, and expectation. Through scale, texture, and a careful balance of beauty and melancholy, these works celebrate Monroe’s enduring radiance while honoring the complexity that made her story one of the most compelling in popular culture.

Price on Application

Auction History

Russell Young - Marilyn in Korea

Marilyn in Korea · Russell Young · Sotheby's · 2023-09 · $4,064

Russell Young - Marilyn in Korea

Marilyn in Korea · Russell Young · Artsy Auction · 2022-11 · $8,750

Russell Young - Marilyn in Korea

Marilyn in Korea · Russell Young · Sotheby's · 2022-09 · $0

Russell Young - Marilyn in Korea

Marilyn in Korea · Russell Young · Sotheby's · 2022-07 · $10,080

Russell Young - Marilyn in Korea

Marilyn in Korea · Russell Young · Christie's · 2015-07 · $7,500

More from this series

More series by Russell Young

About the Marilyn Monroe Series

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.

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Marilyn Korea

About Russell Young

Russell Young is a British artist known for his bold screenprinted paintings of cultural icons — Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, Diana, and others — overlaid with dripping enamel and glitter. Working in the tradition of Pop Art, Young investigates celebrity, image, and the gap between icon and reality. His work is represented by Guy Hepner in New York.

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