Iconic photographs of Marilyn Monroe and the camera that shot them are up for auction

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Zoe Paskett14 October 2019

Two photographs from a now iconic shoot with Marilyn Monroe will be up for auction along with the Hasselblad camera used to take them.

Douglas Kirkland’s pictures – Marilyn (Overhead) and Marilyn (Hugging Pillow) – show the actress in bed. Taken at the height of Monroe’s fame and less than a year before her death, they remain some of the last photographs she modelled for.

The two images will be up for auction at Christie’s at the end of this month together with Kirkland’s 1959 Hasselblad 500C and two lenses. The lot is expected to go for between $200,000 to $300,000.

The photo shoot took place in November 1961 in Beverly Hills. Kirkland was 27 years old when he took these pictures for Look Magazine, starting out in a career as a photojournalist. He went on to shoot Brigitte Bardot, Audrey Hepburn, Coco Chanel, Andy Warhol and Diana Ross, among many more.

The pictures will be auctioned on October 29.

Marilyn Monroe - in pictures

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