A Marilyn Monroe auction is set to take place featuring some iconic photographs of the Hollywood starlet.
Nine images of the iconic beauty are going to be auctioned by Nate D. Sanders Auctions on May 28.
The photographs were all taken by Andre de Dienes, who was a friend to Marilyn Monroe for a number of years. The images span in time from 1945 to 1953.
When is the Marilyn Monroe auction?
There are nine different lots that will be auctioned off on May 28 through online bidding at the Nate D Sanders auction website.
Each of the images is going to have a $1,000 starting bid, with the expectation that the prices could go up as the day goes on.
These are all original photographs that Andre de Dienes paid Marilyn Monroe to have done — which gave him the rights to all of the images.
What Marilyn Monroe photographs are up for auction?
In one of the photographs — which is from 1945 — the Some Like It Hot actress is posing in the snow at Mt. Hood, Oregon. At the time, her name was still Norma Jeane Dougherty. There are several photos from 1945 available in the auction.
Some of the later photos in the auction were taken at Tobey Beach, Long Island in the summer of 1949. This was right before Monroe would go on to star in Love Happy and All About Eve.
There are also several beautiful photos from 1953 that were taken by Andre de Dienes at the Bel Air Hotel. The caption for the auction states that de Dienes took the photos right before success and fame was about to come to Monroe.
According to de Dienes, “Marilyn was the happiest woman in the world” during that particular photoshoot that marks the ninth photograph in this particular collection.
In 1953, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire premiered in theaters. The photos seem to mark a moment in time – right before Marilyn Monroe was about to become a huge star.
Monroe — who was born in 1926 with the name Norma Jeane Mortenson — passed away in 1962. She was 36 years old and had been a model, actress, and singer during her career. She was larger than life – much like her legend all these years later.
The starlet was married three times. Her first husband was James Dougherty (1942-1946), followed by famous New York Yankees outfielder Joe Dimaggio (1954-1955) and then playwright Arthur Miller (1956-1961).