Four Mona Lisas

ABOUT THIS WORK

In "Four Mona Lisas," four nearly identical images of Leonardo da Vinci's iconic portrait are arranged in a grid, each one a silkscreen print. The familiar face, with her enigmatic smile, appears in a faded, almost ghost-like quality, suggesting the pervasive nature of her image in popular culture. The repetition and slight variations in the silkscreen process highlight how mass media can transform and dilute an original masterpiece. Look closely at the subtle shifts in color and registration between the four panels; these imperfections are part of the work's commentary on mechanical reproduction. Created in 1978, this piece continues the artist's exploration of celebrity, consumerism, and the way images are consumed and re-consumed in modern society, taking a universally recognized symbol and presenting it as a manufactured commodity.

DETAILS

Artist: Andy Warhol
Date: 1978
Medium: Acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen
Location: Art Institute of Chicago
Dimensions: 127 × 101.7 cm (50 × 40 in.)
Collection: Contemporary Art
Culture: United States
Credit line: Gift of Edlis Neeson Collection

ART MOVEMENTS

Pop Art Postmodernism

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What to Notice

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01

The famous smile

Find the faint smile on the lower right face. Warhol keeps Leonardo's hint of a smile, but the stark black and pale pink ink makes it look flatter and less mysterious.

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02Whole painting

Four-panel grid

The canvas splits into four panels, two wide views above and two close crops below. The repetition makes the world's most famous face feel like a mass-produced product.

03

Faces that differ

Compare the two lower faces. The left one is darker and more broken up, while the right is cleaner and paler, so each print of the same image comes out different.

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04

Streaky painted sky

Look at the pale brushstrokes in the teal sky at upper right. Hand-painted gestures sit beside the silkscreened image, so the surface feels part made, part printed.

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05

Landscape turned to noise

Behind the upper left figure, the winding landscape breaks into black and teal patches. Leonardo's detailed background turns into a rough, high-contrast pattern.

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THE ARTIST