Three days with Marilyn Monroe in June 1962 gave photographer Bert Stern (1929 - 2013) more than memories--the fortuitous photo assignment led to a series of images that became iconic. They were also the last formal poses of Monroe, taken six weeks before the movie star's death on August 5, 1962.
Now known collectively as "The Last Sitting", the photography portfolio includes around 2,500 images. Some depict Marilyn Monroe nude or partially nude. They also include photographs that Marilyn Monroe rejected for publication by Vogue magazine, who sent Stern on assignment after being requested by Marilyn Monroe. Those images were crossed out with lipstick by Monroe.
“It was a one-time-in-a-lifetime experience, to have Marilyn Monroe in a hotel room,” Stern said in the 2010 documentary “Bert Stern: Original Madman,” “even though it was turned into a studio, where I could do anything I wanted.”
Of working with Monroe, the New York Times reported Stern telling Newsday, "She was beautiful at that time. I didn’t say, ‘Pose nude.’ It was more one thing leading to another: You take clothes off and off and off and off and off. She thought for a while. I’d say something and the pose just led to itself.”
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"Bue eyes (Double x)" by Bert Stern. C Print, Edition of 9, 72 x 72 inches.
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"Two Roses (Purple)" by Bert Stern. C Print, Unique, 60 x 50 inches.
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"Marilyn in Dior" by Bert Stern. C Print, Edition of 18, 60 x 72 inches.
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Marilyn. Cover Playboy magazine by Bert Stern.
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"Crucifix" by Bert Stern. C Print, Edition of 18, 50 x 50 inches.
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"Marilyn with bed sheet" by Bert Stern. C Print, Edition of 18, 60 x 40 inches.
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"Four Smiles" by Bert Stern. C Print, Edition of 18, 64 x 75 inches.
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BASIC FACTS: A select number of Marilyn Monroe photographs from "The Last Sitting" portfolio by Bert Stern opens at February 14, 2015 at Vered Gallery, 68 Park Place, East Hampton, NY 11937. www.veredart.com.
RELATED: "Bert Stern, Elite Photographer Known for Images of Marilyn Monroe, dies at 83" by Paul Vitello for the New York Times. Published June 26, 2013.
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