Marilyn: Celebrating an American Icon

“She’s all woman, the most womanly woman in the world.”

– Arthur Miller

“I am not interested in money. I just want to be wonderful.”

– Marilyn Monroe

Featuring more than 100 paintings, photographs, and videos of the starlet, this exhibition celebrates the image of Marilyn Monroe that still electrifies the world half a century after her death. Famed artists such as Cecil Beaton, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Antonio de Felipe, Milton H. Greene, and AndyWarhol, among others, capture the many sides of the 1950s glamour goddess and immortal legend.

Marilyn: Celebrating an American Icon, based on the hugely popular exhibition Life as a Legend: Marilyn Monroe, reveals the character of Marilyn Monroe as an enduring cultural phenomenon through the art of more than 50 influential artists in styles ranging from fashion photography to Pop art. Images of well-loved movie scenes, familiar publicity photos, and biographical glimpses into Marilyn’s private moments cover her rise to stardom, and ultimately, her struggle to empower herself; while abstract interpretations of the popular icon sometimes reveal the artists’ ideas on sexuality, commercialism, and exploitation through the power of her image.

Though her life ended prematurely at the age of 36, the world’s fascination with Marilyn Monroe’s magnetic appeal and much-publicized private life has continued to thrive over time. Marilyn: Celebrating an American Icon pays tribute to America’s favorite sex symbol.

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