Norman Mailer’s poignant and provocative text and Bert Stern’s historic Last Sitting photographs evoke the spirit of America’s greatest female icon.I’m not gonna go over Mailer’s text which has been reviewed in the first edition of his book by myself last year, and by countless others over the years.
Of all the photographers whose pictures appeared in his original Marilyn book, it would appear that Bert Stern’s captured the widest range of her emotions.This new version is a marriage of two great artists’ work and a work of art unto itself.The book is massive in size and needs to be sat on a table to fully appreciate it. It’s boxed too, which adds to the presentation of this edition.
The photos look amazing in this size, but not as defined as when you see them in galleries, but they come close. They’ve giving some of the less known images prominence and the Stern classics are all here too, some have been slightly retouched.
Throughout the book there are pictures of magazine covers from the Douglas Airview in January, 1946 to post death, magazine articles and film posters, the Tom Kelley calendar etc which give it a historic context and scrapbook feel as Mailer’s story develops.Commemorating the 50th anniversary of her death on August 5th, 1962, this edition is limited to 1,962 numbered copies signed by Bert Stern.
By Fraser Penney
