Marilyn Monroe by Bert Stern opens at HGU New York Hotel
One of the images of Marilyn in the series. Marilyn Monroe ‘The Last Sitting’ © The Bert Stern Trust.
NEW YORK – HGU New York Hotel announces “The Red Party,” a month-long pop-up show featuring late fashion photographer Bert Stern’s limited-edition photographs of Marilyn Monroe. The exhibition runs from Feb. 4 to March 4.
Curated by Shannah Laumeister Stern, in collaboration with Keyes Art and The Bert Stern Trust, the exhibition at HGU New York is presented by Gallery 151, with sale proceeds going to Australian Wildfires Disaster Relief. The original works can be found on display throughout the hotel’s public spaces, including its restaurant Lumaca and the Lumaca Lounge, starting Tuesday, February 4, 2020.
“The Red Party” at HGU New York features black-and-white and sepia-toned photographs, with themes of red, that are the result of the famed Marilyn Monroe photoshoot by Bert Stern commissioned by Vogue magazine in June 1962. The images, captured over three sessions, would end up being the last sitting with Marilyn before her untimely death six weeks later. Playful and elegant, the collection of photographs became known as “The Last Sitting.”
“Bert captured Marilyn in a series of images so comprehensively,” said curator Shannah Laumeister Stern, wife of the late Bert Stern. “He went beyond her external and ethereal beauty to her essence. Marilyn seemed to trust Bert and let go in ways she had never before. She was free and playful, and Bert captured the total of her with the reverence and passion he felt. They had a relationship through what they both related to most, the lens of the camera.”
All pieces in the exhibition are sourced from the personal archives of Bert Sterns’ Marilyn Monroe, The Last Sitting, and are available in never-before-released, large-size editions of eight. All pieces are available for purchase, with 10 percent of the proceeds going to the Red Cross For Australian Wildfires Disaster Relief.
HGU New York features constantly rotating collections of artwork curated through an exclusive partnership with Chelsea’s Gallery 151. The hotel boasts more than 200 permanent and rotating pieces of artwork throughout the property, from photography to digital art installations. Each piece has been acquired from the primary art market, directly purchased from and benefitting the artists themselves. Current works on display include pieces by Sebastian Piras, Ralph Gibson, Lee Jaffe, Robert Weingarten, Marcia Reznick, a selection from the “Girlfriends of the Rolling Stones” series by Liz Markus, and Anna Friemoth’s “Words for Women” series.
For more information about HGU New York, visit www.hgunyc.com.
