Tuesday, October 14, 2014

British Columbia | Marilyn Monroe Print To Be Auctioned Off

Courtesy Maynards A rare print of iconic actress Marilyn Monroe won in a $5 raffle 31 years ago is going up for auction at Maynards with an estimated value of $40,000 to $60,000.
 | Metro

An East Vancouver man is about to cash in on a rare print of iconic actress Marilyn Monroe that he won in a raffle three decades ago.

The print, taken by fashion photography giant Richard Avedon, was raffled off at a fundraiser for Presentation House in North Vancouver in 1983. The raffle ticket cost $5.

Next month, the print is going up for auction at Maynards with an estimated value of $40,000 to $60,000.

“I expect it to actually be above that estimate,” Kate Bellringer, director of contemporary and Canadian art auctions and an art appraiser at Maynards, told Metro.

In 2011, a similar print from the same edition sold at Christie’s in Paris for US$83,182, she said.


The high-ticket price is to be expected considering the two legends attached to the print, which is in perfect condition and also signed on the back by the photographer, said Bellringer.

Not only does the photo depict one of the most famous women of all time, but it was also taken by one of the most legendary fashion and portrait photographers in history, she said.

Avedon, who died in 2004 at the age of 81, is known for his psychedelic photos of the Beatles.

“So that makes it really one of the most famous portraits ever made,” she said.

According to a description of the print on the Museum of Modern Art’s website, the photo was taken in Avedon’s New York studio in May 1957.

Recalling the portrait, Avedon once said Monroe had been dancing, singing and flirting for hours, according to the website description.

“And when the night was over and the white wine was over and the dancing was over, she sat in the corner like a child, with everything gone,” he described the scene.

It was at that moment that Avedon captured Monroe as she dropped her public persona, which makes the photograph “different and special,” said Bellringer.

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