MARILYN MONROE: Red Velvet Collection, Rare One-Of-A-Kind Color Separations To Tour Five U.S. Cities | LimitedRuns
Limited Runs, vintage poster and art retailer announces its partnership with the Messenger Art Collection to tour the historic, original one-of-kind large-format color separations used to produce the iconic Marilyn Monroe “Golden Dreams” calendars from the 1949 nude “Red Velvet” photo shoot. The Kodachrome photograph and 21 large format separations (24” x 20”), will be made available for limited public viewing in five U.S. cities: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Chicago and New York. This historic image, rather than end, catapulted Marilyn Monroe’s career into the stratosphere, graced the inaugural issue of Playboy magazine, propelling Hugh Hefner into the publishing spotlight, launching his popular mega-empire.
On May 27, 1949, an out of work and broke, Monroe posed nude for photographer Tom Kelley at his studio in Hollywood, California. Agreeing to the session under the condition that Kelley’s wife, Natalie, attend the shoot, Monroe signed the model release as “Mona Monroe” and earned a paltry $50. Neither the photographer, nor 22-year old Monroe realized the historic moment they were creating. Chicago-based printing company John Baumgarth Company acquired the prized “Red Velvet” Kodachrome photograph in 1951. Baumgarth used them to create three iconic images of the bombshell that were then printed and sold in an estimated 9 million “Golden Dream” calendars. Reproducing Monroe’s refined features, supple texture and luxurious tones was no small feat – print artisans painstakingly created and corrected the many layers of film for the full color printing process to make the original Chromalin color proof separations – a masterpiece of printer’s art. In late winter 1952, the press discovered that the nude model in these best-selling calendars was none other than 20th Century Fox’s biggest star. The Studio’s initial reaction was to deny everything. No major Hollywood celebrity had ever done such a thing. As legend has it, Monroe was instrumental in persuading 20th Century that their inclination to deny the whole thing was the wrong way to address the scandal. Monroe was right. In an exclusive interview with United Press International, Monroe admitted to posing for the photo and explained how difficult her life was at the time. The story “Marilyn Monroe Admits She’s Nude Blonde of Calendar” hit the Wire on March 13, 1952, and was picked up globally. Public forgiveness was swift, and Monroe was further catapulted into international superstardom.
http://www.limitedruns.com/blog/movie/marilyn-monroe-red-velvet-tour/
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