From Marilyn Monroe’s first paying assignment to a magazine shoot just weeks before her death, “Marilyn Monroe: The Making of a Legend,” opening on July 25 at Andrew Weiss Gallery, captures the trajectory of the actress’s tragic life story with the largest archive of original Monroe photography in the world.Told through the lenses of seven renowned photographers, the story begins in 1945 with the images of William Carroll who paid Norma Jeane Mortenson (Marilyn Monroe) $20, about $250 today, for a day’s worth of shooting, and concludes with the last set of photographs taken of Monroe in 1962 by George Barris.Highlights of the show include works by Milton Greene seen for the first time in 2015 and making their West Coast debut about being unpublished for 50 years until Andrew Weiss Gallery acquired the rights. A candid set of photos by Pan American steward Kashio Aoki of Monroe and husband Joe DiMaggio also appear in the show, with DiMaggio begrudgingly posing following a flurry of paparazzi at the airport. The roll of film sat undeveloped for almost 50 years.Photographer Andres de Dienes and Monroe shared almost instant chemistry captured though a set of innocent and playful photographs at Tobey Beach on Long island in 1946, as Norma Jeane Mortenson was transforming into Monroe. Conversely, at the height of her sex symbol status, Monroe participated in a photoshoot with Bert Stern at the Bel Air Hotel for Vogue. The room was stocked with her favorite red wine and champagne and only had accessories to dress in. The images are some of her most smoldering, though Vogue didn’t agree at the time.Along with these historic photos of Monroe will be a series of fictive images by photographer Tyler Shields. Shields creates scenes of shock and mourning surrounding the death of the actress with color-saturated prints.“Marilyn Monroe: The Making of a Legend” is on view July 25-September 5 at Andrew Weiss Gallery.
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