Naked Marilyn Monroe Picture to go Under Hammer

She was paid 50 dollars by photographer Tom Kelley for the shoot and it was used in several calendars – Photo: BNPS – Naked Marilyn Monroe Picture to go Under Hammer – The photograph of a naked Marilyn Monroe that launched the icon on her road to fame is to go under the hammer at auction. Taken in 1949 when Monroe was a jobless model, the picture shows her lying on a red, velvet cloth.

Naked Marilyn Monroe Picture to go Under Hammer – She was paid 50 dollars by photographer Tom Kelley for the shoot and it was used in several calendars. Monroe used the money to put down an instalment on a car, presumably so she could drive around Hollywood searching for work.

Four years later when Monroe had become famous the photograph was used in the first ever edition of Playboy magazine.

Naked Marilyn Monroe Picture to go Under Hammer – The photograph is being sold along with several others of the star including one of her looking incredibly plain. Roy Schatt took the picture in his studio in 1955 and it shows Monroe without much make-up, wearing a hat and almost like a blank canvas. That is also expected to sell for several thousand pounds.

The photographs are being sold by Swann Auction Galleries in New York on October 18.