Marilyn (Vanitas) 2 Analysis

Study of Marilyn (Vanitas) II is one of the great fine art made by Jewish American artist Audrey Flack (1931, New York) in 1976, and made of oil over acrylic on canvas and it is 2.25 x 2.25 inches transparency was taken by the artist with the Hasselblad Camera and the projected from the slide onto the canvas where it was painted. It is purchased and housed in Arizona University Museum of Art. The reasons of choosing this painting are new realistic method and highly emotional and famine painting, famous photorealist, associated with life, death and pleasure, still-life painting and rich in symbols. Mainly, this painting refers to photographic expression of the vanities in life.

According to article published in jewishvirtuallibrary.org “…it

There are symbols of death: the calendar, the hourglass, and the clock all state to the passing of time. She used Marilyn Monroe as sex symbol and demonstrate her beauty, but she includes lipstick, a compact, jewellery and perfume all to express that beauty is fleeting. The fruit cut open is type of a death symbol, means once you cut it open it will become rot. May be the paint brush symbolizes the death or the fact that the life is short-lived, like as an uncompleted painting. In the mirror, we can see the reflection of pictures is not precise, which states imperfections in Marilyn, which expresses that beauty is not everything. The rose symbolizes natural beauty and is also a representation of a woman. The lip gloss, face powder, lipstick, and mirror show that it is about a women who is affected by vanity and self-image. I don’t think it is represented as a bad thing though, because it isn’t exaggerated and the objects make me think of elegance. There are a few objects in the painting that represent wealth and richness. These items are; the fancy blue glass, which is meant to hold liquor, the perfectly shaped grapes that hang over the portrait, the silver pearls draped over the blue glass, the perfume bottle, and the colored fabrics that surround the objects. There are also objects in the painting that represent time. She also made this little personal because she included an image in the center

It demonstrates that even within photorealist painting, which is often criticized as merely careful copies of photographs, the creative process is ever present. Flack’s spontaneity and careful eye are evident in the seemingly casual yet determined ways she constructed the still life, and then deviated from it when actually