A signed artist’s proof of Richard Avedon’s 1957 portrait of Marilyn sold for a remarkable $882,000 at Christie’s in New York last week. Sometimes known as ‘Sad Marilyn,’ it’s fast becoming her highest valued photographic image – with another print currently on display in London’s Victoria & Albert Museum (or V&A) as part of a new exhibition, Fragile Beauty: Photographs from the Sir Elton John and David Furnish Collection, alongside two other photos by Eve Arnold (showing Marilyn on location for The Misfits) and Bert Stern (from the Black Dress Sitting.)
“Growing up, I always thought she was glamorous, but I never realised how beautiful she was until I saw the photographs by Avedon and Bert Stern,” says Elton, who paid homage to Monroe with his 1973 single, ‘Candle in the Wind.’ “I thought she was a great actress and an enigma. You’ll never know how she died, you’ll never know who she was. I’m a bit like that. I can turn ‘Elton John’ on if you want me to, and she could turn ‘Marilyn Monroe’ on when she wanted to.”
The Avedon photo is also available as part of a postcard pack, and on an A1 poster created exclusively for the V&A.
And in other news, a limited edition print of this Sam Shaw photo of Marilyn on the beach at Amagansett in 1957 was featured in the second annual benefit auction for the American Photography Archives Group this week.
The Marilyn Report 
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