Marilyn (Castelli Graphics Invitation) (1981) is one of the most intimate and historically resonant objects in Andy Warhol's entire printed output - an offset lithograph produced as the exhibition announcement for Andy Warhol: A Print Retrospective 1963-1981, held at Castelli Graphics, New York, from 21 November to 22 December 1981. It is, in the most literal sense, a primary document of the moment at which Warhol's printmaking career was formally surveyed and canonised by the gallery that had played a central role in his rise.

The image is a reduced version of Warhol's iconic 1967 Pink Marilyn - catalogued as Feldman & Schellmann II.30 - rendered in the same electric palette of hot pink, acid yellow, and magenta that has made the original one of the most recognisable works of the twentieth century.

The connection to Leo Castelli is itself significant. Castelli Gallery - at the time operating its print division as Castelli Graphics at 4 East 77th Street, New York - was the most important commercial gallery in America and the primary institutional supporter of Warhol's printed work from the early 1960s onwards. The 1981 retrospective was a landmark event in the history of American printmaking, accompanied by Herman Wünshe's full colour catalogue raisonné Andy Warhol: The Graphic Work 1962-1980 - distributed by Castelli Graphics at the opening - which remains one of the foundational reference texts for Warhol's graphic output.

From an edition of approximately 250, the Castelli Marilyn invitation was distributed to the gallery's most significant collectors, dealers, and institutional contacts - making each surviving example a document of New York's art world at its most concentrated and culturally powerful moment. It is not in Feldman & Schellmann as a separate catalogue entry, as confirmed by Sotheby's, but is widely documented and actively traded among serious Warhol collectors and print specialists.