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Adrien Brody showcased another of his artistic passions at the amfAR Cannes Gala, unveiling a piece he created of none other than Marilyn Monroe.
The actor, director, composer, and producer took the stage on Thursday night (May 22) at the star-studded auction and demanded attention from the crowd.
“Please, for a moment, I know it’s a big room,” said the Brutalist star, who sported a sparkly black suit.
Highlights
- Adrien Brody was heavily mocked after unveiling a “pretentious” art piece of Marilyn Monroe.
- His piece was sold for $425,000 at the amfAR Cannes Gala, a fundraiser for AIDS research.
- The actor said he began painting before his acting career and debuted his first art exhibition in 2015.
Adrien went on to explain the inspiration behind the artwork, stating that it represents “what Marilyn’s life did not afford her”: “to live a life fully and to cherish all the moments and the imperfections in life.”
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Adrien Brody was trolled after he unveiled his artwork of Marilyn Monroe during the amfAR Cannes Gala
Image credits: Ryan Emberley/amfAR/Getty
He continued, “Women are so often objectified in the media and on social media. They have to look beautiful, and they are beautiful, but what is within them is what’s most important in this world. And I want to honor that.”
According to a Variety report, Adrien’s artwork sold for a whopping $425,000.
However, social media users had a very different take on the star’s art piece.
He told the audience that painting has always been a passion of his, even predating his acting career
Adrien Brody introduces his art piece at #amfARCannes: “Painting precedes acting for me.” pic.twitter.com/ESNGEH82I7
— Variety (@Variety) May 22, 2025
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), one critic wrote, “I don’t understand how someone could be that bad at art and yet so confident that it’s good art.”
“You can tell this man’s mother never told him no. You can just feel it in your bones,” said someone else.
“Looks like the kind of thing I would’ve made when I was 14 and had just gotten into pop art and street art,” shared an additional user.
Adrien used the moment to speak out against the objectification of women in media
Image credits: Colby Tallia/amfAR/Getty
A separate critic called the artwork “soulless and pretentious,” saying it looks like “something an edgy high schooler would do.”
“He painted the Madonna Celebration album cover,” someone else quipped.
Another user chimed in, writing, “It looks like something you’d buy at a souvenir store while on vacation in Florida.”
Adrien, who has previously called painting his “first love,” debuted his first collection, titled Hot Dogs, Hamburgers and Handguns, at Art Basel in Miami in December 2015.
In May 2016, he presented his second art exhibition in New York City, titled Hooked.
The Marilyn Monroe piece was auctioned for $425,000
Image credits: Mireya Acierto / Getty
The exhibition featured a variety of colorful fish paintings and sculptures, which the Pianist actor hoped would “call upon the viewer to find light in a dark world.”
One of the pieces from the exhibition was a modified version of the Starbucks logo, depicting the mermaid holding two weapons to her head.
In place of the Starbucks wording, Adrien’s piece had the words “Brodybucks” and “Hooked” written around the image of the mermaid.
That “Brodybucks” piece was also brutally roasted on social media, with people contrasting his serious film roles with what they described as “surface-level art.”
Despite the sale, Adrien’s artwork was widely mocked on social media, with users calling it “soulless” and “pretentious”
Image credits: Mireya Acierto / Getty
Still, that year, the two-time Oscar winner achieved another auction success when he sold a painting titled Tiger on Last Legs at the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation Gala for $275,000.
In addition to Leonardo DiCaprio, the auction was attended by several stars, including Robert De Niro, Mariah Carey, and Bono.
In an interview with the HuffPost, Adrien, whose father is a history professor and painter, discussed the public’s perception of his artwork and expressed that his role as an actor “limits” how his pieces are received.
Adrien previously debuted his first collection at Art Basel Miami in 2015 and followed it up with a New York exhibition in 2016
Image credits: adrienbrody
“I understand people see you; they’re exposed to you in a certain way,” he began. “But even as an actor, you’re limited by what people feel you are. What they’ve read about you, you know, if you’re in the tabloids.
“Or, if you’ve only done dramatic films, you couldn’t possibly have a sense of humor, and if you’ve only done comedic movies, you couldn’t be a great dramatic actor.
“Most people think actors are incredibly vain, and probably most actors are. And maybe I am vain, to a certain extent, but the purpose of doing this is far from vanity.”
Image credits: artnet / Adrien Brody
The Midnight In Paris star said he might have chosen painting over acting if he had been accepted into art school when he was younger. However, he has no regrets about the form of artistic expression he ultimately became known for.
“It’s so difficult to be successful in any creative art form, so whatever cards were dealt, whatever mistakes I’ve made, or whatever good fortune I’ve had, I’m really grateful for [it] at this point.
“I’m grateful to be able to have a voice to then expand my creative expression and share that with people. And that’s the result of, you know, making it in another creative art form.”
In March, Adrien took home his second Oscar for Best Actor for The Brutalist, delivering one of the longest speeches in Oscar history, which lasted 5 minutes and 40 seconds. He had previously won in the same category in 2003 for Roman Polanski’s The Pianist.
The Oscar winner acknowledged that being an actor affects how people perceive his artwork
Image credits: adrienbrody
The mission of the recent amfAR Cannes Gala was to raise funds for AIDS research. Among the items auctioned was a stay for 16 people at the mansion featured in the second Knives Out film, Glass Onion, which sold for $368,000.
James Franco also donated one of his paintings, which fetched $368,000.
Jeff Bezos and his fiancé, Lauren Sánchez, purchased outfits from every era of the James Bond franchise for $510,000.
Some online critics compared his art to the work of teenagers or souvenir-shop items
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