Auction Item Details
Lot 885
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Lot Number: 885
Description: Fine Marilyn Monroe original painting by Jon Whitcomb c.1958. We felt it appropriate to end the Marilyn Monroe portion of the auction with such an uplifting and beautiful piece of artwork. This original watercolor painting hung above the mantle in Joe DiMaggio's Beach St. San Francisco home for many years. The painting was executed by noted American illustrative artist Jon Whitcomb. By Whitcomb's own account in a 1980 interview, "Hearst needed an Easter hat feature and asked me to paint six ladies for it....I painted her on three other occasions mostly for Cosmopolitan. Her notions of magazine posing were quaint." The painting was based in large part on a series of Marilyn Monroe photographs taken by an unknown photographer in New York, one of which pictures her in a similar pose wearing the identical hat. The painting itself exhibits very fine detail with usage of light and shadow perfectly framing Marilyn's face beneath the cascading Easter hat. The medium is an artist's board which remains matted in a period whitewashed wooden frame. Painting size measures 12"x12" and is signed by Whitcomb at the bottom. Whitcomb achieved national acclaim for his illustrative artwork beginning in the 1930s with works appearing in publications such as Collier's and Good Housekeeping. Although he was also an accomplished product illustrator for various advertisements incl. Cadillac, he is best known for his portrayal of beautiful women of the genre. After serving in World War II, Whitcomb resumed his craft and produced numerous notable pieces of actresses and pin up girls of the era. The offered painting of Marilyn Monroe was highly regarded by Joe DiMaggio as evidenced by its prominent placement within his home. It is one of the finest of Whitcomb's original artworks to have become available to the collecting public: EX-MT
Estimated Price: ($20,000.00-$30,000.00)
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