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THE PHILIPPE HALSMAN ARCHIVE
This fascination with the human face has never left me. Every face I see seems to hide - and sometimes, fleetingly, to reveal - the mystery of another human being. Capturing this revelation became the goal and passion of my life.
Philippe Halsman
Philippe Halsman first met Marilyn Monroe when she was one of eight unknown starlets he photographed for Life in the fall of 1949. He returned to Hollywood in February 1952 to photograph her again for the magazine, this time for a cover.
Halsman wrote (Sight and Insight, p. 35), 'I drove to the outskirts of Los Angeles where she lived in a cheap two-room apartment. What impressed me in its shabby living room was the obvious striving for self-improvement. I saw a photograph of Eleanora Duse and a multitude of books that I did not expect to find there, like the works of Dostoyevsky, of Freud, the History of Fabian Socialism etc. On the floor were two dumbbells.
I took hundreds of pictures. Finally I asked her to stand in the corner of the room. I was facing her with my camera, the Life reporter and my assistant at my sides. Marilyn was cornered and she flirted with all three of us. And such was her talent that each one of us felt that if only the other two would leave, something incredible would happen. Her sex-appeal was not a put-on--it was her weapon and her defense.'
The photograph was published on the cover of the April 7, 1952 issue of Life with the headline 'Marilyn Monroe: The Talk of Hollywood'. Marilyn had arrived; the cover undoubtedly conferred star status upon her and Twentieth Century Fox adjusted her contract accordingly.
The present lot, a magnificent and oversized headshot by Halsman from the Life cover sitting is arguably finer than the full-figure version.
This actual print was exhibited in the photographer's retrospective exhibition at The International Center of Photography, New York, from June 9 to July 22, 1979.
Christie's is now delighted to be able to offer this superb work of art on behalf of the Halsman Archive, on the occasion of a significant new exhibition celebrating the importance of Halsman's body of work. It is currently on view at the Musée de l'Elysée, Lausanne until May 11 and will also be shown next year at the Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume in Paris from October 13, 2015 to February 14, 2016.
PHILIPPE HALSMAN (1906-1979)
Marilyn Monroe, 1952
細節
PHILIPPE HALSMAN (1906-1979)
Marilyn Monroe, 1952
gelatin silver print
titled, dated and annotated 'ICP '79 Exhibit' in pencil and copyright credit stamps (on the verso)
image: 19½ x 15½in. (49.5 x 39.4cm.)
sheet: 19½ x 16in. (49.5 x 40.5cm.)
Marilyn Monroe, 1952
gelatin silver print
titled, dated and annotated 'ICP '79 Exhibit' in pencil and copyright credit stamps (on the verso)
image: 19½ x 15½in. (49.5 x 39.4cm.)
sheet: 19½ x 16in. (49.5 x 40.5cm.)
出版
Philippe Halsman, International Center of Photography, 1979, n.p.
展覽
Philippe Halsman, International Center of Photography, New York, June 9 - July 22, 1979