A stunning black and white vintage photograph of Marilyn in a white gown clutching a rose to her chest. This timeless image was shot by famed photographer, Cecil Beaton, in 1956, at New York's Ambassador Hotel. It was the artist's only photoshoot with Marilyn, and the star once commented to her 'Bus Stop' director, Joshua Logan, that this exact frame was her favourite image of herself.
Despite campaigning for three months to put the photoshoot together, Marilyn turned up ninety minutes late on the day of the shoot! Beaton soon forgave Miss Monroe's tardiness, and he adored the work they created together. He later commented: "The real marvel lies in the paradox – somehow we know that this extraordinary performance is pure charade, a little girl’s caricature of Mae West… There is an unworldly, a winsome naiveté about the child’s eyes that, quick as a flash, will screw up into a pair of sexy, smouldering slits and give you a synthetic ‘come-hither’ look."
Provenance: From The Lost Archive of Marilyn Monroe