"The Nude Marilyn Monroe" by Earl Moran for Playboy 1946 Edition 33 of 75

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Earl Moran
"The Nude Marilyn Monroe" by Earl Moran for Playboy 1946 Edition 33 of 75
1946

About the Item

Original photograph titled the "Nude Marilyn Monroe" for Playboy Legacy Collection is one of three nude images ever published of the starlet. Taken in 1946 by renowned pinup artist Earl Moran and then purchased by Playboy who published it in the January 1987 issue as a tribute to Marilyn Monroe written by Hugh Hefner. Image is an original archival fine art print from the Playboy Legacy Collection produced in 2007 by A&I Photo Labs in Los Angeles, California for Playboy International. Item bears edition 33 of 75 and is embossed with the Playboy Bunny logo in the bottom right hand corner. Accompanied with unique Certificate of Authenticity also bearing the Playboy Bunny embossing. Excellent gift or purchase for any home, office, or collector. The Playboy Legacy Collection is comprised of 48 museum quality images released in limited editions of 75 in 2007. Each of the images were hand selected for their history and timeless beauty dating back to the first issue of Playboy in December, 1953. The collection was produced by parent company International Images in conjunction with Playboy International and features rare and unpublished works by Tom Kelly, Salvador Dali, Pompeo Posar, David LaChapelle, and more. Earl Steffa Moran (December 8, 1893 – January 17, 1984), born in Belle Plaine, Iowa, was a 20th-century pin-up and glamour artist. Moran's first instruction in art came under the direction of John Stich, an elderly German artist who also taught the great illustrator W.H.D. Koerner. Moran also studied with Walter Biggs at the Chicago Art Institute. Moran later studied at the famed Art Students League in Manhattan, where he took instruction from the muralists Vincent Drumond, Robert Henri, Thomas Fogarty (Norman Rockwell's teacher), and the legendary anatomist George Bridgman. After moving back to Chicago in 1931 and opening a small studio where he specialized in photography and illustration, he sent some paintings of bikini-clad girls to two calendar companies; when both Brown and Bigelow and Thomas D. Murphy Company bought the work, his career was officially launched. Moran signed an exclusive contract with Brown and Bigelow in 1932 and by 1937, his pinups had sold millions of calendars for the company. In 1940, Life ran a feature article entitled "Speaking of Pictures" which mostly focused on Moran's work and made him a national celebrity. In 1941, Moran helped the magazine publisher, Robert Harrison, to launch a new men's magazine called Beauty Parade, and he later contributed pin-ups to other Harrison magazines such as Flirt, Wink and Giggles. In 1946, Moran moved to Hollywood though he had already painted many movie stars including Betty Grable, for publicity posters. Soon after his arrival, he interviewed a young starlet named Norma Jean Dougherty who wanted to model for him. For the next four years, Marilyn Monroe posed for Moran and the two became friends. She always credited him with making her legs look better than they were as she felt they were too thin. Moran's work during this time period is now his most valuable; a Moran Marilyn pastel sold for $83,650, nearly doubling the previous record for one of his works, when the Craig MacMillan collection was sold at Heritage Auctions in February 2011. Moran lived in the San Fernando Valley from 1951 to 1955, hosting fabulous parties, directing and starring in short television films, painting portraits of Earl Carroll's Vanities Girls, and maintaining his position as a star of the pin-up world. After a move to Las Vegas (circa 1955) and several years of living in the fast lane, Moran decided to devote his time to painting fine-art subjects, with nudes as his favorite theme. Signing with Aaron Brothers Galleries, he painted for collectors until 1982, when his eyesight failed. Some of his earlier works for Harrison were signed "Steffa" or "Black Smith". Moran died in Santa Monica, CA, on January 17, 1984.

Creator:
Earl Moran (1893 - 1984)
Creation Year:
1946
Dimensions:
Height: 20 in (50.8 cm)Width: 16 in (40.64 cm)Depth: 0.02 in (0.51 mm)
More Editions & Sizes:
20x24 edition of 75Price: $2,495
Medium:
Archival Pigment
Movement & Style:
Modern
Period:
1990-1999
Condition:
Item is in as new condition.
Gallery Location:
Los Angeles, CA
Reference Number:
Seller: PLCS1-51stDibs: LU107823902512