JAMES FRANCIS GILL: MARILYN AND BEYOND
Castle Fine Art is proud to present an exhibition celebrating the work of pioneering American Pop artist James Francis Gill open until 14th June 2026.
Photo Credit: Castle Fine Art
At the centre of this cultural moment is Gill’s legendary Marilyn Triptych (1962), currently exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery and on loan from The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Painted only weeks after Monroe’s death, the work is widely regarded as one of the most psychologically powerful portrayals of Marilyn Monroe ever created.
Taking place alongside the National Portrait Gallery’s major exhibition Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait, the show offers a rare opportunity for UK audiences to experience the breadth of Gill’s remarkable career while witnessing a pivotal moment of renewed international recognition for the artist.
While many Pop artists approached Monroe as a symbol of glamour and celebrity culture, Gill portrayed her with empathy and emotional depth - revealing vulnerability beneath the surface of fame. The monumental triptych helped establish Gill as one of the defining figures of first generation Pop Art alongside Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Claes Oldenburg.
Photo Credit: Castle Fine Art
The Castle Fine Art exhibition will span multiple celebrated series from across Gill’s career, including Icons, Women in Cars, Women in Water and Political Prisoner, offering visitors insight into the extraordinary stylistic and emotional range of his work.
A major highlight of the exhibition will be the unveiling of a suite of new original painted Marilyn studies created in 2025. These works are based on licensed imagery from the archive of celebrated LIFE photographer Allan Grant, whose intimate photographs captured Monroe during her final sitting at her Brentwood home shortly before her death.
Born in San Angelo, Texas in 1934, James Francis Gill emerged as one of the most distinctive voices of the Pop Art movement in the early 1960s. His work entered the permanent collections of major institutions including MoMA, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago.
After withdrawing from the public art world in 1972, Gill’s work experienced a major rediscovery in the late 1990s following renewed scholarly attention and museum retrospectives. Now in his nineties, the artist continues to paint near his hometown in Texas.
Photo Credit: Castle Fine Art
More than sixty years after the original Marilyn Triptych, Gill has returned to the subject with Marilyn Triptych III (2025), a new body of work inspired by previously unseen photographs from Grant’s archive. In contrast to the dramatic colour palette of the 1962 original, the new work is dominated by soft blues and quiet tonal shifts that evoke stillness, reflection and intimacy. Collectors will be able to purchase these new works from 8th June via Castle Fine Art Galleries and on castlefineart.com.
Photo Credit: Castle Fine Art | The Culture Digest
📍 James Francis Gill: Marilyn and Beyond, Castle Fine Art, Covent Garden
🗓 Until 14 June 2026
🎟 The exhibition is free to attend