Presented by Gadfly Gallery at Perth Concert Hall
11 Nov – 20 Dec 2009
If diamonds are a girl’s best friend then photographs of the woman who sung those famous lyrics are just as valuable.
For the first time since the exhibition premiered in London two years ago, images of Marilyn Monroe by photographer Eve Arnold have gone on display… in Perth!
The coup is being exhibited at the Perth Concert hall as homage to the late Hollywood glamour but also the woman who captured her true side on film.
Anna Kwiecinska is curator of the exhibition and said it portrayed a very important time in photographic history.
‘Marilyn famously said after she had seen Eve’s photographs of rival movie star Bette Davis, “if she could do that with Bette imagine what she could do with meâ€,’ Ms Kwiecinska said.
‘She certainly knew what she wanted and Eve acknowledged her genius in front of a camera – it was the perfect partnership.’
The photographs were shot just after Marilyn’s last full length feature film, the Misfits, and capture her natural self away from the usual poses she struck.
‘It is a world away from the sexpot, playboy associations most people have of Marilyn,’ Ms Kwiecinska said.
‘It looked to be her off-guarded moments. Eve captured the woman’s vulnerability that we all knew of but was very rarely seen.’
The pair shared a 10 year friendship.
Arnold was born in Philadelphia, America in 1912 to Russian immigrant parents.
She quickly proved her insight and natural skill at photography when she took a six-week class in New York with Alexei Brodovitch, who was the-then art director of Harper’s Bazaar, choosing Harlem fashion for her first course assignment.
At that time, no American magazines featured black fashion and her pictures stood out.
Her big break came when her husband sent her work to Picture Post in London. The Magnum co-operative, which was responsible for giving photographers their own copyright and is world famous for their pictures, was impressed by her work and invited her to join.
Arnold has since photographed the famous, the powerful and the ordinary, across the globe, to great acclaim – including Eisenhower, Queen Elizabeth II and Joan Crawford, to name a few.
She brought an acute and perceptive vision, with a rare humour to her work.
‘If the photographer is interested in the people in front of his lens, and if he is compassionate, it’s already a lot,’ Arnold said.
‘The instrument is not the camera but the photographer.’
She received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Magazine Photographers in 1980 and although famed for many of her works, her pictures of Marilyn remain among her most famous.
‘Marilyn was an entertainer and having this at Perth’s premiere entertainment centre adds to the glamour and grandeur,’ Ms Kwiecinska said.
‘So when you walk in you’ll see a gorgeous black and white print of Marilyn against a dramatic red background, it is a very eye-catching experience.’
There are 23 images, among them the largest possible photographic prints in the world at 180cm by 150cm, which adds to the drama.
‘It’s Marilyn almost life-like really,’ Ms Kwiecinska said.
‘ A number are full length of her alighting from a plane or attending an extremely glamorous Paramount Studios’ Ball looking impossibly beautiful, where the enlarged picture pulls you into the limelight as well.’
The prints are for sale, ranging in value from $2,500 to $47,000 depending on the quality and edition, with the rarer larger images being limited to 49 prints and the smaller prints reaching a total of 99 prints.
The exhibition will then travel to the eastern states before spending four years in Asia.
Aja Styles
