| |
 |
Nude Marilyn Monroe photos fail to sell
|
FIVE photographs of a nude Marilyn Monroe taken against a blood red background -- one of the century's most famous images -- failed to sell at auction recently.
Bidding on the five pictures as a unit went up to US$475,000 and up to a total US$850,000 when placed for sale individually at Butterfields auction house. None of the bids, however, met undisclosed reserves placed on the pictures by Tom Kelley Jr, the son of photographer Tom Kelley who took them in 1949 when the actress Monroe was 22.
Monroe's career spanned 16 years, during which she made 29 films. She died in 1962.
An agent for Kelley told reporters he thought the pictures -- one of which was used as the first centrefold in Playboy -- did not sell because people did not understand they carried intellectual property rights -- meaning the buyer could do what they wanted with the image.
(SD-Agencies)
|
|
|
|
