Marilyn Monroe Centennial: Photographs by Lawrence Schiller
Honor the Hollywood icon's 100th birthday and explore how she sought to control her career and public image as a celebrity.
Honor the Hollywood icon's 100th birthday and explore how she sought to control her career and public image as a celebrity.
In honor of Marilyn Monroe's 100th birthday, the Jean Margo Reid Center for Women's History juxtaposes the legendary star's on-camera and off-camera persona with images taken by photojournalist Lawrence Schiller on two of her film sets in 1960 and 1962. Using Schiller’s striking photographs and his recollections, the exhibition reveals how Monroe sought to control her career and public image as a celebrity. The exhibition includes contact sheets marked up with Monroe’s final approval and photographs from the famous pool scene of her last, unfinished film Something’s Got to Give—including one image that was featured as the cover of Life magazine. Schiller’s images are accompanied by a selection of iconic photographs taken in New York City and objects from the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library at The New York Historical. Highlights include the invitation and program for the 1962 Democratic Party fundraiser at Madison Square Garden, where Monroe famously sang “Happy Birthday” to President John F. Kennedy, and Monroe’s numerous Time and Life magazine covers.
This exhibition is organized by Susan Bloom. At The New York Historical, it is curated by Dr. Keren Ben-Horin, Associate Curator of Public History, and Dr. Isabelle Held, Mellon Foundation Gender and LGBTQ+ History Postdoctoral Fellow, Jean Margo Reid Center for Women's History
Exhibitions at The New York Historical are made possible by the Saunders Trust for American History, the Evelyn & Seymour Neuman Fund, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. WNET is the media sponsor.
Media sponsor:
