London is getting an eye-opening new exhibition about Marilyn Monroe this month

One hundred years ago (on June 1, 1926), Norma Jeane Mortenson was born. She would grow up to become one of the most captivating movie stars of all time and one of the most photographed people in the world. She, of course, was Marilyn Monroe. 

And in the month of what would have been Marilyn’s 100th birthday, the National Portrait Gallery is putting on an exhibition to celebrate her life, work and legacy. Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait will open at the National Portrait Gallery on Thursday June 4.

The exhibition will be made up of portraits by some of the twentieth and twenty-first century’s most celebrated artists and photographers, including Andy Warhol, Cecil Beaton, Marlene Dumas, Milton Greene, Richard Avedon and Eve Arnold. It’ll also delve into the role Marilyn played in crafting her own image. 

The star was known to take a collaborative approach to her photoshoots, performing for the camera, directing sessions and claiming the right to veto any pictures she didn’t like. Photographers often described her as the best subject they’d ever shot.

Visitors will get to see previously unseen photographs from Monroe’s final photoshoot – intimate portraits taken by Allan Grant for Life magazine at her Brentwood home in Los Angeles, the day before her death in August 1962. The shoot captured more than 400 images, but just eight were published at the time. It’ll also feature a collection of personal belongings, such as scripts and items of clothing, to further illustrate who the real Marilyn was. 

Rosie Broadley, senior curator of 20th century collections at the gallery, said: ‘It has been a privilege to spend time curating an exhibition about a woman who both defined and challenged the era in which she lived.

‘In addition to her iconic beauty, Marilyn Monroe had inimitable attitude, intelligence, strength and humanity and it is no surprise that she held such fascination for artists working during her lifetime and in the decades since.’

Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait is at the National Portrait Gallery from June 4 until September 6 2026. Tickets cost £25-£27 or are free for members. Book here. 

ICYMI: A life-changing Frida Kahlo exhibition is coming to London this month. 

Plus: These are the best exhibitions on in London right now. 

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