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James Francis Gill | The Marilyn Triptych
As Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait opens at the National Portrait Gallery this summer, it offers an opportunity to reconsider not only the legacy of Marilyn Monroe, but the artists who shaped her enduring image.
At the centre of the exhibition is Marilyn Triptych (1962) by James Francis Gill - a monumental and psychologically charged work created in the weeks following Monroe's death. Presented as the largest piece in the exhibition, and shown alongside Allan Grant's final photographs, the painting establishes a powerful dialogue between image and interpretation - between how Monroe was seen, and how she was understood.
Gill was inspired by photographs taken by LIFE photographer Allan Grant during Monroe's final interview, just weeks before she died in August 1962. Only a few of these images were ever published; hundreds remained unseen for decades. They capture Monroe in an unusually intimate light-far removed from the polished allure of Hollywood.
Working from the published photographs, Gill constructed a visual narrative across three panels that moves from vitality to vulnerability, tracing a life shaped-and ultimately strained-by unrelenting public attention. In contrast to many depictions of Monroe emerging at the time, his vision is profoundly empathetic, contemplative, and human. The nude figure he painted is not sensational or voyeuristic, but instead emotionally "bare" not merely in body, but in spirit. Gill recognized in Monroe a fragile individual ensnared in the machinery of celebrity, a perception that lends the work its enduring poignancy.
'The Marilyn Triptych' marked a decisive breakthrough in Gill's career. Acquired almost immediately by MoMA, it established him among the most significant new voices of his generation. Its display alongside works by other leading artists exploring Monroe's image solidified Gill's role in redefining how the icon would be understood in art history.
At the heart of Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait at the National Portrait Gallery (June 2026),' The Marilyn Triptych'-the exhibition's largest work, on loan from its permanent home at the Museum of Modern Art-stands as one of the most psychologically penetrating portrayals of Monroe ever created.
This artwork is a hand-signed Silkscreen on Hahnemuhle 400gsm Paper limited edition by James Francis Gill.
Small edition £3,750, Large edition £16,950
Castle Fine Art
8-10, The Exchange
Nottingham
NG1 2DD
T: 0115 958 3883
nottingham@castlefineart.com
www.castlefineart.com
