Garry Winogrand
Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

© The Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
ArtistAmerican, 1928–1984
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Marilyn Monroe
DateSeptember 11, 1954
Place depictedNew York City, New York, United States
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 15 3/4 × 10 5/8 in. (40 × 27 cm)
Sheet: 16 15/16 × 14 in. (43 × 35.5 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by Robert Levine by exchange, The Manfred Heiting Collection
Object number2002.2699
Current Location
The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building
Gallery 208
Exposé

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Department
Photography
Object Type
DescriptionGarry Winogrand was just one of more than twenty photographers invited to the film set of The Seven Year Itch for a photo shoot which took place on November 11, 1954, and became one of the most successful publicity stunts ever staged. To promote their new film, Marilyn Monroe and director Billy Wilder were posing when Marilyn was directed to stand over a subway grate when a train passed beneath, causing an updraft to blow up the skirt of her white dress. The appeal of the staged accident was immediately recognized, and the scene was reenacted numerous times, allowing the film crew and invited press photographers alike to get the perfect shot. Every publication that could find an excuse to run the story did so, and the variations of this image, such as the one shown here, became indelibly part of Monroe’s persona and allure.
Provenance[Manfred Heiting, Malibu, California]; purchased by MFAH, 2002.
Exhibition HistoryAcquisitions of the Last Five Years: Selections of Modern and Contemporary Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Upper Brown Pavilion, July 15, 2005 - October 15, 2005.

“Made for Magazines: Iconic 20th-Century Photographs,” The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, February 9–May 4, 2014.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Inscribed in pencil, verso, lower left: #1
Signed in pencil, verso, upper left: Garry Winogrand

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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