On June 1, 2011, the day Marilyn Monroe would have turned 85, the Andrew Weiss Gallery, the world’s largest dealer of Marilyn Monroe photography, will launch a major exhibition of rare and never-before-seen original photographs of the legendary star. Titled “Happy Birthday Marilyn”, this exhibition will include photographs from the personal collection of George Barris, the last photographer to take pictures of Marilyn before she died. Also featured are photographs by Bill Carroll, who captured the very first photographs of Norma Jeane, and works by the major photographers of her era including Laszlo Willinger, Tom Kelley, Milton Greene, Bert Stern and many others.
“These photographs are very dear and personal to me,” says George Barris, who will attend the show opening on June 1st. “Marilyn was much more than a photography subject, she was a friend. She had an inner light that comes through in her images, even many years later, and I am pleased to work with the Andrew Weiss Gallery to share my experience of Marilyn with her fans and the public.”
In addition, the Gallery will be partnering with the Marilyn Remembered fan club to empower Marilyn’s fans around the world. Fans can participate in the celebration by sending personal birthday wishes to the Hollywood icon. The personalized greeting cards sent to the gallery during her Birthday month, June, will be exhibited in the gallery alongside the photography, creating a first-ever exhibition of its kind, combining photos of Marilyn Monroe with personal messages from those she continues to inspire and impact around the world.
The exhibition will open to the public June 2nd and continue through August 13th. This is an opportunity for Marilyn enthusiasts, fans of the featured photographers and art collectors of all kinds to see this stunning, ground-breaking work for the first time.
