As everyone knows once you die, you become even more famous. It happened to all the artists who passed away, because this is just the way it goes. This year is the 50th anniversary of Marilyn Monroe’s death, and her memory is still celebrated around the world.
Florence, London, Cannes, New York, Los Angeles,: these cities have hosted or are still hosting glittering exhibitions paying tribute to the “dumb blonde”, as Marilyn was often called after her roles in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and How to Marry a Millionaire (1953).
In Italy the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum in Florence is now hosting the exhibit “Marilyn”, celebrating the actress as both a fashion and style icon. As many other stars do, Marilyn loved Ferragamo shoes. The exhibition includes 30 pairs of her shoes, and more than 50 outfits belonging to the unforgettable actress.
In London a great exhibit showed Marilyn’s famous dresses and costumes as well as some original videos. It closed last month, and it was a great chance for both fans and curious visitors to look back at the life of one of the world’s most enduring icons.
The latest edition of Cannes Film Festival celebrated Marilyn by featuring her image on its official promotional poster. The photo, taken by Otto L. Bettmann, introduced the movie My Week with Marilyn, starring the Oscar-nominated Michelle Williams (Dawson’s Creek, Brokeback Mountain, Shutter Island). A new line of diamond jewelry by Chopard inspired by Marilyn was also launched during the Festival. The new collection is connected to the exhibit “Marilyn Forever“, displaying 25 unpublished photos of the actress. The shots were taken by Milton H. Greene, and were selected from his archive of 4,000 Marilyn photos. It seems to be a very interesting exhibit, and since it will tour the world until the end of the year, you shouldn’t miss the chance to visit it.
Let’s move to the USA: opened on May 31st in New York, “Marilyn & Me” is Lawrence Schiller’s first solo exhibition in the country. It shows over 50 photos of Marilyn Monroe, many of which were taken on the set of her last movie, Something’s Got To Give, which was never completed.
On the east coast, in Los Angeles, “Marilyn Monroe: The Exhibit – An Intimate Look At The Legend (1926-1962)” opened June 1st at the Hollywood Museum. It holds one of the largest collections of authentic Marilyn Monroe memorabilia. Totally devoted to this star, in 2006, the owner of the museum decided to place her sculpture in front of the building. The museum is the perfect venue for such an exhibition: it is inside the Max Factor Building, the same place where, as the Museum Founder and President Donelle Dadigan said, “many years ago, Max Factor gave Marilyn Monroe her famous blonde hair”.
By Krizia Ribotta
Glamitalian 