Gelatin silver press print
New York, USA, 1962; printed later in 1989
Bill Ray (b. 1936) – American photographer
Copyright stamp on the verso ‘CREDIT TO READ: Cecil Stongton LIFE MAGAZINE © 1989 Time Inc.‘
Image size: 18.5 x 19.4 cm
Good condition
Bill Ray was a staff photographer for LIFE magazine; one of his iconic pictures of Marilyn Monroe fetched over €3,600 at an international auction

In 1962, Marilyn Monroe had one of her last and most remembered performances on the occasion of president JFK’s 45th birthday. Her dress was made of a sheer and flesh colored marquisette fabric und served for her sultry rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ that immediately captured the crowd. The present picture reveals one of the rare images of Monroe together with Kennedy and his brother Robert F. Kennedy at a private after party in Manhattan. The secret service had strict instructions not to allow any photographs of the president and the actress together. The picture could only survive because the negatives were in a dryer during the confiscation.



The gelatin silver print shows the copyright stamp ‘CREDIT TO READ: Cecil Stongton LIFE MAGAZINE © 1989 Time Inc.’ on the verso. A second stamp, the label ‘Photo MASI’ and further inscriptions such as ‘Marilyn Monroe, Bobby + John Kennedy at […] birthday party for JFK’ are also presented on the verso. The print is in good condition considering its age; the photo paper reveals light handling marks and superficial damages along the edges. The image size is 18.5 x 19.4 cm and the size of the sheet is 26 x 20.5 cm.



Bill Ray (b. 1936)

Bill Ray was born in Nebraska and started to work as a photographer in 1957, when he was active under contract with the National Geographic. In the same year, he was offered a freelance job with LIFE magazine. In 1957 he finally became their staff photographer and captured some of the most important actors, musicians or politicians of his generation, including Elvis Presley, the Beatles or Marilyn Monroe. Besides, Ray also traveled around the world, documenting the Vietnam War and numerous further historic events. Ray had studios in New York, Beverly Hills and Paris and produced alone 46 covers for the magazine ‘Newsweek’. (cbo)

Shipping costs excl. statutory VAT and plus 2,5% (+VAT) shipping insurance.

Due to the legal obligation for the resale royalty in the art market the following applies: As a result of its membership in the AV Kunst, Auctionata charges additionally to the hammer price the contribution to the AV Kunst of currently 2.1% of the revenues from the sale of fine arts and photographs pro rata towards the buyer. More information about royalty right in our T&C.