The Museo Ferragamo in Florence pays homage to Marilyn Monroe with a major exhibition and a book dedicated to her marking the fiftieth anniversary of her death. The exhibition and book are the result of long research and preparatory work, presenting items from the actress’s wardrobe worn on the set or in her private life, as well as important documents that reveal the actress’s managerial side, her skill and determination in building and grooming her success.
A well endowed collection of photographs of Marilyn taken in her day-to-day life are juxtaposed with the power of the archetype and the endurance of the myth, the greatness of which perhaps resides in the stars double nature as spiritualized female and pop icon. Measuring themselves against the myth and the chronicles, the curators have sought to interpret the genesis of certain famous photographs (by Beaton, Stern, Barris, Greene) portraying Marilyn in classic poses.
They have compared these portraits with famous works of art from the past, representing older expressions of similar poses and expressions, from the balanced pathos of French painter Jean-Baptiste Greuzes Alessandro Morente to Botticelli’s Venus.Between the pages, the book is divided into sections, Marilyn The Icon And The Myth and Marilyn The Woman And The Actress.
These contain chapters by writers as diverse as Lois Banner to Vincenzo Trione, drawing together the worlds of photography and cinema, art and poetry to allow comparison with Marilyn’s image constantly wavering between the everyday realm and the mythical dimension in an endless quest for balance.The book is the ultimate tribute to surely the ultimate icon of modern times, creating a portrait of Marilyn like never before.
By Fraser Penney
