In celebration of Marilyn Monroe’s 100th birthday and in association with the Marilyn Monroe estate, the National Portrait Gallery in London is presenting Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait.

Marilyn Monroe, Ballerina Sitting, 1954, by Milton H. Greene, Milton H. Greene © MHG Collective, LLC

This major exhibition, which runs until 6 September, celebrates the life and work of one of the most famous women of the 20th century through portraits. It explores the role she played in her own image making, and her inspiration on photographers and artists in her lifetime and long after.

Born on 1 June 1926, Monroe remains a defining presence in popular culture. From the earliest pin-up photographs made when she was a young model named Norma Jeane, to her last interview for Life Magazine and the poignant final images taken on Santa Monica beach in 1962, she was one of the most photographed people in the world, and fascinated and inspired some of its greatest artists.

Marilyn Monroe, 1946, by André De Dienes, © André de Dienes / MUUS Collection

The exhibition brings together works by Andy Warhol, Pauline Boty, James Gill, Rosalyn Drexler and Audrey Flack, alongside photographs by over 20 era-defining photographers including Cecil Beaton, Philippe Halsman, Bernard of Hollywood, André de Dienes, Eve Arnold, Inge Morath, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Milton Greene, Sam Shaw, Richard Avedon and George Barris.

The exhibition also features previously unseen photographs from Life magazine; intimate portraits taken by Allan Grant at Monroe's Brentwood residence just one day before her death in August 1962. Grant's exclusive session, which accompanied her final interview with Life associate editor Richard Meryman, captured 432 images of which only eight were originally published. These dynamic photographs show Monroe reading the transcript of her interview, performing a range of emotions from joy and contentment to quiet reflection.

Norma Jeane, 1946, by Bruno Bernard, Bernard of Hollywood Foundation

Victoria Siddall, Director of the National Portrait Gallery, said: “Marilyn Monroe remains one of the most recognisable people in modern history: a shorthand for glamour, distilled from the films that she appeared in and the wealth of photographs of her, reinforced by the generations of artists she has inspired. We are proud to be staging this exhibition celebrating Marilyn in her centenary year, exploring her extraordinary life and influence as well as her enduring legacy.”

Rosie Broadley, Joint-Head of Curatorial & Senior Curator of 20th Century Collections at the National Portrait Gallery, added: “It has been a privilege to spend time curating an exhibition about a woman who both defined and challenged the era in which she lived. In addition to her iconic beauty, Marilyn Monroe had inimitable attitude, intelligence, strength and humanity and it is no surprise that she held such fascination for artists working during her lifetime and in the decades since.”

Marilyn Monroe, 1962, by Allan Grant, © 1962 MM LLC (Photographs by Allan Grant), www.marilynslostphotos.com

Photographers who worked with Monroe described her as the best subject they had ever had. The exhibition will foreground Monroe's collaborative approach to image making and her creative agency; she not only performed, but also directed sessions and claimed the right to veto any images she did not like.

The shock of Monroe's death in 1962 was a catalyst for the production of numerous portraits by artists on both sides of the Atlantic. British Pop artist Pauline Boty, a devoted fan, worked through her grief in paintings including The Only Blonde in the World (1963) and Colour Her Gone (1962).

In New York, Andy Warhol created his iconic screen prints. Based on a publicity still taken to promote the film Niagara (1953), Warhol isolated Monroe's face against a field of gold, enshrining her like a Byzantine saint. In Warhol's work, Monroe was no longer just a movie star, but the great American icon. James Francis Gill made his triptych Marilyn (1962), while Joseph Cornell assembled delicate memorial boxes dedicated to Monroe. Monroe continues to fascinate artists, drawn to her iconic presence and fascinating life.

If you or your group would like to enjoy a visit to see Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait at the National Gallery on a tailor-made tour to London this summer, please contact our friendly team today.