Marilyn Monroe photos sell for £25,000 at Shropshire auction
One of the largest private collections of Marilyn Monroe photographs has baggedmore than £25,000 when it went under the hammer in Shropshire today.
The collection was split into a total of 44 lots which were auctioned off in an internet-only auction by Ludlow-based auctioneers Mullocks. The total raised was £25,475. Earlier estimates had suggested the collection might reach £80,000.
The archive was put up for sale by professional snooker player Dominic Dale who has been collecting memorabilia for 25 years. It included 32 rare photographs including never-seen-before images from Monroe's first and final photoshoots, as well as original copies of some of her more iconic shots.
The highest-selling single photograph was one of Marilyn jumping for joy in mid-air in a black dress, by Philippe Halsman, which fetched £1,600.
The image which inspired Andy Warhol's famous pop-art screen print of the movie icon, issued by Fox Studios and showing her in sultry pose wearing a sling back dress, was also among the collection, and went for the second highest amount at £1,100.
Another, of Miss Monroe in a hooded top on Tobey beach went for £1,000. It was taken by celebrity photographer George Barris just weeks before she was found dead aged 36 at her LA home following a barbiturate overdose on August 5, 1962.
Snooker ace Dominic, 42, said: "It will be sad to see them go but my snooker commitments now call for me to be jetting around the world all the time.
"I think the time has come for my collection to pass into the hands of other lovers of Marilyn who will cherish them as much as I have done."
