Stunning vintage matte-finish 8 x 10 photo of Monroe taken during a Frank Powolny glamour shoot in 1953, signed and inscribed in ballpoint, "To Miss Snively, My thanks and appreciation, Marilyn Monroe.” In fine condition, with a couple of faint bends, and some trivial old tape residue in the top and bottom borders.
The recipient, Emmeline Snively, was the owner and manager of the Bluebook Modeling Agency. Monroe, still Norma Jeane at the time, signed with the agency in 1945, and Snively is believed to have assisted her in transforming into Marilyn Monroe. The photograph is accompanied by a fifth edition of the Models Blue Book, published by Snively in 1960, which, on page 139, contains images of this very offered signed photo, as well as of Snively taking Monroe’s measurements on the set of the 1954 film There's No Business Like Show Business.
Monroe and Powolny most famously teamed up in 1953 for a series of stunning, artfully framed publicity stills for the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Immortalized for his classic World War II pinup of Betty Grable, Powolny remained a trusted photographer for Monroe throughout her career and is noted as taking the last known still photographs of the starlet during the production of Something's Got to Give, one week before her death in 1962.
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