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Curator's Picks: June 1 A Century of Marilyn: The Timeless Image - Photographs Showcase Auction
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Nigel's Picks
Nigel Russell | Vice President and Director, Photographs, New York
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For the April 7, 1952, issue of LIFE magazine,
photographer Philippe Halsman captured what would become one of the defining
early portraits of Marilyn Monroe, helping cement her transformation from
rising starlet to Hollywood icon. Halsman
photographed Monroe in a white evening gown, using dramatic lighting and
intimate composition to emphasize both her glamour and vulnerability; the
resulting cover, headlined "Marilyn Monroe: The Talk of Hollywood," quickly
became one of the magazine's most celebrated images. Halsman
later recalled how Monroe effortlessly charmed everyone in the room during the
session, describing her magnetism as both "her weapon and her defense." Adding
another layer of Hollywood history to the shoot, silent film legend Harold
Lloyd-an enthusiastic amateur photographer in his own right-was also present
behind the scenes, photographing Monroe and documenting the atmosphere of the
famous session from his own perspective.
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"Baby," one of the most memorable photographs from Bert
Stern's legendary The Last Sitting series, captures Marilyn Monroe in a mood
that feels both playful and deeply vulnerable. Taken during a three-day Vogue
shoot at the Hotel Bel-Air in June 1962-just six weeks before her death-the
image shows Monroe stripped of much of the polished Hollywood glamour that had
defined her public persona. Stern later described the atmosphere of the
sessions as relaxed and intimate, with Monroe sharing bottles of Dom Pérignon
champagne throughout the shoot, helping to create the spontaneous, uninhibited
energy visible in many of the photographs. In "Baby," that combination of
innocence, sensuality, and melancholy became emblematic of The Last Sitting,
now regarded as one of the most poignant photographic portraits in Hollywood
history.
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Laura's Pick
Laura Paterson | Consignment Director, Photographs, New York
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I've chosen this wonderful image mainly because I'm an
unashamed fan of Ernst Haas's work. While perhaps best known for his pioneering
color photographs (he was the first photographer to be given a solo color show
at MoMA, New York in 1962), Haas was also a highly gifted black and white
documentarian who, with his keen sense of composition and perspective, elevated
his subject matter from the merely mundane to something far more compelling, as
in this image where Marilyn Monroe, seated in the passenger seat of a car, is
laughs uncontrollably, apparently completely unaware of the camera. The
photograph was taken during the making of John Houston's ill-fated 1960
film The Misfits, written by Monroe's then-husband Arthur Miller.
Ernst Haas, along with nine fellow Magnum photographers Eve Arnold, Cornell
Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Bruce Davidson, Elliott Erwitt, Erich Hartmann,
Inge Morath and Dennis Stock, were hired to document activities on and off set
and although many of their images illustrate the evident tensions experienced
by cast and crew (not least the deterioration of Miller and Monroe's marriage),
others, like this one, show moments of pure happiness and fun in the barren
backdrop of the Nevada desert.
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Holly's Pick
Holly Sherratt | West Coast Director, Photographs
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Philippe Halsman photographed Marilyn Monroe with dumbbells
in 1952, just before Monroe became an international star through films such
as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a
Millionaire. Halsman worked with Monroe over
several sessions between the late 1940s and 1959 and became known for creating
carefully staged celebrity portraits. In this photograph, Monroe poses casually
on a workout bench holding weights, pairing Hollywood glamour with an activity
still considered unconventional for women in the early 1950s, when fitness for
women was generally associated with beauty, posture, and maintaining an
attractive figure rather than strength training. The image reflects changing
postwar attitudes toward femininity and physical fitness in America.
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Toshiko's Picks
Toshiko Abe | Cataloguer, Photographs
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Before she transformed into the platinum-blond sex symbol
Marilyn Monroe, she was Norma Jeane - a young woman with naturally curly brown
hair, eager to build a successful modeling career.
When Hungarian-born photographer André de Dienes first met
her, he was searching for a model for an experimental nude photography project.
Norma Jeane, only 19 years old at the time, had recently signed with the Blue
Book Model Agency in August 1945 and was sent to work with him. De Dienes
later described her as "a miracle" and fell in love with her at first sight.
Rather than pursuing the original nude project, he invited
her on a five-week road trip through California, Nevada, Arizona, and Oregon.
The two were said to have become romantically involved during their travels. By
the time the trip ended, Norma Jeane had begun reinventing herself as Marilyn
Monroe and was already on her path to stardom.
The two photographs offered in this sale were taken during
that brief and formative period when they first met. In them, we can sense the
photographer's fascination with her angelic smile - at once, playful and
alluring, yet still innocent and fragile.
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Mya's Pick
Mya Adams | Cataloguer, Photographs
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Sam Shaw was a constant presence on the set of The
Seven Year Itch and is perhaps best known for capturing Marilyn
Monroe's iconic subway grate moment. One of my personal favorites, however, is
this playful image of Marilyn relaxing in a bubble-filled bathtub, her leg
kicked up and out of the porcelain tub.
The photograph feels part pin-up, part behind-the-scenes
movie magic. It's glamorous, cheeky, bubbly (pun fully intended) and completely
full of life. I've always admired Marilyn's ability to completely own every
moment in front of a camera. Despite being one of the most photographed people
in the world, it's hard to think of a single bad image ever taken of her.
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Nigel Russell
Vice President and Director,
Photographs, New York
NigelR@HA.com
(212) 486-3659
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Laura Paterson
Consignment Director,
Photographs, New York
LauraP@HA.com
(212) 486-3525
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Holly Sherratt
West Coast Director,
Photographs
HollyS@HA.com
(415) 548-5921
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Toshiko Abe
Cataloguer,
Photographs, New York
ToshikoA@HA.com
(212) 486-3523
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Mya Adams
Cataloguer,
Photographs, Dallas
MyaA@HA.com
(214) 409-1139
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