Dear Friends,
What is it about Marilyn Monroe? Our appetite for her is limitless.
I fell for her too. I created all these Marilyn images while in college to fill bare apartment walls.
Though gorgeous, sexual beings have gone before and will after (especially today with sophisticated ‘self-improvement’ technologies) none will ever come close to Marilyn’s platinum pulchritude. What is it beyond her obvious blessings? What keeps Norma Jean ever present on our radar.
Perhaps, the perception of innocence around her persona allows us to love her above all others. It allows us to forgive her ‘naive’ transgressions. We blame Hollywood, we blame the machine for allowing her to slip through the cracks. Had her full lips creased at forty-five, would she have tarnished? Would her ‘innocence’ have turned stale? Maybe…
I don’t know about ‘candles in the wind,’ I only know Marilyn Monroe ended her life (unless you subscribe to other conspiracy theories) before life ended her. As for me, I’m still looking for Elvis and Jim.
Thank you and goodnight. May you dream of statuesque blonde angels…
(magazine pic taken in local Stop & Shop, top Marilyn: 18″ x 24″ print from zinc plate etching, middle Marilyn: 5′ x 3′ acrylic painting, bottom Marilyn 9′ conté crayon) All images painted from photographic reference, couldn’t locate original photographers’ names, if anyone knows, please pass on – all photo images are under different estates…thank you
anntogether 
Gorgeous artwork, AnnMarie! And I absolutely love your “platinum pulchritude” — oh my gosh, a perfect description! You are so right about Norma Jean; what is it about her that seems to keep her image and spirit permanently in our lives? The woman was, cliched but true, larger than life.
LikeLike
Thank you. I wasn’t able to get wonderful copies. This older artwork is sometimes photos of photos of my originals. The last piece, the conté crayon Marilyn is 9 feet tall. That Marilyn is in the garage. She greets me every day. She was with me all through college 🙂
AnnMarie 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I remember the night Marilyn Monroe died…the news item came within moments of the first time I heard “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” on the radio. We were driving from the California Coast to Seattle for the World’s Fair. It was just incredibly sad. – Fawn
LikeLike
I believe from all that I’ve read about Marilyn, she had a tender heart. Marilyn fell victim to her own beauty – a beauty she never owned, but struggled to have control over. She never completely comprehended the deeper power of her sexuality. There was Norma Jean always looking for ‘parental’ approval… It was tragic…
AnnMarie
LikeLike
I’d love to say I named my dog after her… Norma Jean Smith Updike the 1st… but honestly, Norma was supposed to be a boy dog named after Norm from cheers. So when “Norm” walked in the room, we could all say loudly “NORM!!!” but Norm ended up to be a girl, so we altered it to Norma, since we already went to the trouble to pre-pick a name. So after Norma came into our lives, people just started adding the Jean… then smith I have no idea where that came from… and Updike… well, that’s real.
LikeLike
My son who makes us so very proud is named after Maxwell Smart…please, don’t tell anyone 😉
I see your family – like mine – has a sense of humor too! I’m sure Norma loves her name regardless – dogs are great that way…We just won’t tell her the ‘true’ origins 🙂 For some reason, we continue adding to our Dachshund’s name: originally Mojo, then it became Dr. Mojo not sure why, then Moshizzel – it just keeps morphing perhaps because the dog himself is so very lonnngggg…:-)
AnnMarie 🙂
And I love your name!
LikeLike
Beautiful artwork by the way… If you find Elvis, let me know…
LikeLike
Ah, thanks 🙂
If I do find Elvis you’ll be the third to know, I promised 2 others first 😉
AnnMarie 🙂
LikeLike
AnnMarie, the ODE to POPs was beautiful…Your question about Marilyn can be addressed if you look at Sophia Loren…still beautiful at 79 to be 80 in October…I think Marilyn would be in that same category…although I believe Sophia had a little bit more of a stable life with her husband whose name escapes me right now…she also had 2 sons..Love, Mom
LikeLike
Ah, Mama –
Sophia is my favorite! I think she’s beautiful like you. As for Marilyn – who knows – hard life can diminish beauty’s glow…
And kiddies keep you young don’t they!
xoxo
LikeLike
I wrote something recently about the enduring appeal of Marilyn Monroe – she is still so popular, and I love looking at all the old, glamorous photos of her 🙂
LikeLike
She really was spectacularly photogenic – there are many gorgeous people past and present – but she definitely had that IT quality. I feel whenever I look at her photos I can almost hear her whispering…
AnnMarie 🙂
LikeLike