Marilyn Monroe and the Photographers Who Captured Her

Apr 01, 2026

Matt Growcoot

A woman with short, light-blond hair stands in a swimming pool, smiling and holding a glass. She wears a patterned towel or garment draped around her shoulders, with trees visible in the background. — Marilyn Monroe, 1955, by Milton H. Greene © MHG Collective, LLC.

She looked down the lens of some of the most famous photographers of the 20th century, now a new exhibition will celebrate the life and work of Marilyn Monroe via the portraits that immortalized her.

Cecil Beaton, Richard Avedon, Eve Arnold, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Milton Greene, Sam Shaw, and Inge Morath are just some of the 20 photographers featured in the exhibition who made portraits of Monroe alongside artists like Andy Warhol, Pauline Boty, James Gill, Rosalyn Drexler, and Audrey Flack.

A woman with wavy, windblown hair smiles brightly at the camera, wrapped in a dark blanket against a light, blurred background, creating a joyful and carefree mood. — Marilyn Monroe, 1946, by André De Dienes, © André de Dienes / MUUS Collection.

A woman with short blonde hair and red lipstick sits barefoot on a chair, wearing a strapless white tulle dress. She poses against a black backdrop and blue floor, gazing directly at the camera with a soft expression. — Marilyn Monroe, Ballerina Sitting, 1954, by Milton H. Greene, Milton H. Greene © MHG Collective, LLC.

The exhibition, Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait, is being held at the National Portrait Gallery in London, U.K., and will celebrate what would have been Monroe’s 100th birthday by showing famous pictures of the American actress as well as previously unseen portraits taken by Allan Grant at Monroe’s Brentwood home just a day before her death in August 1962.

Grant’s exclusive session, which accompanied her final interview with Life associate editor Richard Meryman, captured 432 images of which only eight were originally published. These dynamic photographs show Monroe reading the transcript of her interview, performing a range of emotions from joy and contentment to quiet reflection.

A woman with blonde hair wearing a striped swimsuit sits on a playground structure outdoors, reading a book. Trees and grass are visible in the background. — Marilyn Monroe, Mount Sinai, Long Island, 1952, by Eve Arnold, © Eve Arnold Estate.

A woman with blonde hair sits on a chair in front of a window, smiling and gesturing with her hands. She wears a dark top and light pants. Sunlight and leafy vines are visible outside the window. — Marilyn Monroe, 1962, by Allan Grant, © 1962 MM LLC (Photographs by Allan Grant), www.marilynslostphotos.com.

Photographers who worked with Monroe described her as the best subject they had ever had. The exhibition will foreground Monroe’s collaborative approach to image making and her creative agency; she not only performed, but also directed sessions and claimed the right to veto any images she did not like

A smiling woman in a red and white striped shirt and a black captain’s hat holds a large starfish, sitting in front of a blue fishing net backdrop with floats. — Norma Jeane, 1946, by Bruno Bernard, Bernard of Hollywood Foundation.

A colorful pop art portrait of a woman with yellow hair, turquoise eyeshadow, red lips, and a green background, in the iconic style of Andy Warhol. — Green Marilyn, 1962, by Andy Warhol, © 2026 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Licensed by DACS, London, National Gallery of Art, Washington. Gift of William C. Seitz and Irma S. Seitz.

“Marilyn Monroe remains one of the most recognizable people in modern history: a shorthand for glamour, distilled from the films that she appeared in and the wealth of photographs of her, reinforced by the generations of artists she has inspired. We are proud to be staging this exhibition celebrating Marilyn in her centenary year, exploring her extraordinary life and influence as well as her enduring legacy,” says Victoria Siddall, Director of the National Portrait Gallery.

Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait runs at the National Portrait Gallery in London on the ground floor from June 4 to September 6, 2026.