FRANCE: Marilyn Monroe has caught the French imagination, not as a sex symbol but as a work of art

An exhibition of photographs taken by fashion photographer Bert Stern from Brooklyn is dedicated to Marilyn Monroe and nearly half a century after her death, the Marilyn magic still works. This exhibition, held at the Maillol Museum in Paris until October 30 and called "Marilyn Monroe, the Last Show", presents some 59 photographs. The photos on display were selected by Stern in the early 1990s from among the 2,500 he took of Monroe at the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles in June and July 1962. These prints were later acquired by the New York collectors Leon and Michaela Constantiner, who included some of them in a larger Monroe show. But Olivier Lorquin, the Musee Maillol's director, wanted to show Stern's 59 photographs in isolation and give them their own catalogue. The photographs, which include some of the most explicit images taken of the actress, show her mainly in three situations: naked on a bed, baring her shoulders, back and legs, holding a transparent chiffon scarf before her naked torso and covering her breast with paper flowers. On other photographs she wears cocktail dresses. At the time, Stern was on assignment for Vogue and had always hoped to photograph Monroe nude. So, he brought only some chiffon scarves and jewellery as accessories. Exceptionally Monroe authorized Stern to photograph her nude. One day before the publication of the photos, Monroe's death was announced. Nearly half a century later, Marilyn Monroe attracted people's imagination. Olivier Lorquin, director of Maillol Museum stressed that she drove the photographs and cameramen crazy. "Marilyn's freedom? In front of a camera, she was someone supernatural. She drove the cameramen and photographs crazy. She knows how to capture the light and knows that Bert Stern will restore it", he said. Tourists enjoyed the wonderful images from Monroe and Stern. Most of them considered Marilyn an American icon. An American tourist Eric Rike, very impressed by the exhibition. "I really like the different colours of each photo and the way that everything was set up. I truly enjoy the selection and also the history that they put before the exhibition. It was really fun watching all these french people who love one of my countrymen," he said. Bertram (Bert) Stern, born in October 1929, is an American fashion and celebrity portrait photographer. Stern worked as a photographer on the film Lolita (1962). Apart from Marilyn Monroe, he has also photographed celebrities such as Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Madonna, Kylie Minogue and Drew Barrimore in addition to his work for advertising and travel publications.

ITN Source | September 14, 2006

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