Auction Time: June 1, 1 PM CT

Curator's Picks: June 1 A Century of Marilyn: The Timeless Image - Photographs Showcase Auction
Our curators picked their favorite items from our upcoming June 1 A Century of Marilyn: The Timeless Image - Photographs Showcase Auction.
| Nigel's Picks Nigel Russell | Vice President and Director, Photographs, New York
Philippe Halsman Marilyn Monroe, LIFE Cover, 1952
Harold Lloyd The Set Up, Marilyn's Apartment, 1952
For the April 7, 1952, issue of LIFE magazine, photographer Philippe Halsman captured what would become one of the defining early portraits of Marilyn Monroe, helping cement her transformation from rising starlet to Hollywood icon. Halsman photographed Monroe in a white evening gown, using dramatic lighting and intimate composition to emphasize both her glamour and vulnerability; the resulting cover, headlined "Marilyn Monroe: The Talk of Hollywood," quickly became one of the magazine's most celebrated images. Halsman later recalled how Monroe effortlessly charmed everyone in the room during the session, describing her magnetism as both "her weapon and her defense." Adding another layer of Hollywood history to the shoot, silent film legend Harold Lloyd-an enthusiastic amateur photographer in his own right-was also present behind the scenes, photographing Monroe and documenting the atmosphere of the famous session from his own perspective.
Bert Stern Marilyn Monroe "Baby" (from The Last Sitting), 1962
"Baby," one of the most memorable photographs from Bert Stern's legendary The Last Sitting series, captures Marilyn Monroe in a mood that feels both playful and deeply vulnerable. Taken during a three-day Vogue shoot at the Hotel Bel-Air in June 1962-just six weeks before her death-the image shows Monroe stripped of much of the polished Hollywood glamour that had defined her public persona. Stern later described the atmosphere of the sessions as relaxed and intimate, with Monroe sharing bottles of Dom Pérignon champagne throughout the shoot, helping to create the spontaneous, uninhibited energy visible in many of the photographs. In "Baby," that combination of innocence, sensuality, and melancholy became emblematic of The Last Sitting, now regarded as one of the most poignant photographic portraits in Hollywood history.
| Laura's Pick Laura Paterson | Consignment Director, Photographs, New York
Ernst Haas Marilyn Monroe on the set of "The Misfits", 1960
I've chosen this wonderful image mainly because I'm an unashamed fan of Ernst Haas's work. While perhaps best known for his pioneering color photographs (he was the first photographer to be given a solo color show at MoMA, New York in 1962), Haas was also a highly gifted black and white documentarian who, with his keen sense of composition and perspective, elevated his subject matter from the merely mundane to something far more compelling, as in this image where Marilyn Monroe, seated in the passenger seat of a car, is laughs uncontrollably, apparently completely unaware of the camera. The photograph was taken during the making of John Houston's ill-fated 1960 film The Misfits, written by Monroe's then-husband Arthur Miller. Ernst Haas, along with nine fellow Magnum photographers Eve Arnold, Cornell Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Bruce Davidson, Elliott Erwitt, Erich Hartmann, Inge Morath and Dennis Stock, were hired to document activities on and off set and although many of their images illustrate the evident tensions experienced by cast and crew (not least the deterioration of Miller and Monroe's marriage), others, like this one, show moments of pure happiness and fun in the barren backdrop of the Nevada desert.
| Holly's Pick Holly Sherratt | West Coast Director, Photographs
Philippe Halsman Marilyn Monroe with Weights, 1952
Philippe Halsman photographed Marilyn Monroe with dumbbells in 1952, just before Monroe became an international star through films such as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire. Halsman worked with Monroe over several sessions between the late 1940s and 1959 and became known for creating carefully staged celebrity portraits. In this photograph, Monroe poses casually on a workout bench holding weights, pairing Hollywood glamour with an activity still considered unconventional for women in the early 1950s, when fitness for women was generally associated with beauty, posture, and maintaining an attractive figure rather than strength training. The image reflects changing postwar attitudes toward femininity and physical fitness in America.
| Toshiko's Picks Toshiko Abe | Cataloguer, Photographs
Andre De Dienes Norma Jeane Barefoot, 1945
Andre De Dienes Norma Jeane, Zuma Beach, 1945
Before she transformed into the platinum-blond sex symbol Marilyn Monroe, she was Norma Jeane - a young woman with naturally curly brown hair, eager to build a successful modeling career. When Hungarian-born photographer André de Dienes first met her, he was searching for a model for an experimental nude photography project. Norma Jeane, only 19 years old at the time, had recently signed with the Blue Book Model Agency in August 1945 and was sent to work with him. De Dienes later described her as "a miracle" and fell in love with her at first sight. Rather than pursuing the original nude project, he invited her on a five-week road trip through California, Nevada, Arizona, and Oregon. The two were said to have become romantically involved during their travels. By the time the trip ended, Norma Jeane had begun reinventing herself as Marilyn Monroe and was already on her path to stardom. The two photographs offered in this sale were taken during that brief and formative period when they first met. In them, we can sense the photographer's fascination with her angelic smile - at once, playful and alluring, yet still innocent and fragile.
| Mya's Pick Mya Adams | Cataloguer, Photographs
Sam Shaw Marilyn Monroe in the Bathtub for The Seven Year Itch, 1955
Sam Shaw was a constant presence on the set of The Seven Year Itch and is perhaps best known for capturing Marilyn Monroe's iconic subway grate moment. One of my personal favorites, however, is this playful image of Marilyn relaxing in a bubble-filled bathtub, her leg kicked up and out of the porcelain tub. The photograph feels part pin-up, part behind-the-scenes movie magic. It's glamorous, cheeky, bubbly (pun fully intended) and completely full of life. I've always admired Marilyn's ability to completely own every moment in front of a camera. Despite being one of the most photographed people in the world, it's hard to think of a single bad image ever taken of her.
View and bid on rare and evocative images of Marilyn Monroe in our A Century of Marilyn: The Timeless Image - Photographs Showcase Auction. The session time for this auction is 1:00 PM Central Time, Monday, June 1, 2026. Sincerely,
|  | Nigel Russell Vice President and Director, Photographs, New York NigelR@HA.com (212) 486-3659
|  | Laura Paterson Consignment Director, Photographs, New York LauraP@HA.com (212) 486-3525
|  | Holly Sherratt West Coast Director, Photographs HollyS@HA.com (415) 548-5921
|  | Toshiko Abe Cataloguer, Photographs, New York ToshikoA@HA.com (212) 486-3523
|  | Mya Adams Cataloguer, Photographs, Dallas MyaA@HA.com (214) 409-1139