From the Daily Mail:
Tousle-haired and relaxed during a break from work, Marilyn Monroe still displays the same allure that made her an enduring screen icon.
Taken by a trusted friend on location while she filmed her first leading role for Niagara in 1953, this picture has never been seen by the public before.
It shows the 27-year-old actress on the brink of international stardom.
Smiling, she seems not to care that her top has slipped down one shoulder as she reclines by Niagara Falls.
In another shot, she wears a knotted scarf as a makeshift sunhat – an image a long way from the glamorous persona which haunted her until her death nine years later.
The man behind the camera was Allan ‘Whitey’ Snyder, Monroe’s make-up artist. She would ask him to photograph her to calm her nerves before filming.
He died in 1994 and the pictures were released after his archive of photos emerged for sale at auction in Beverly Hills this weekend.
The unseen photographs show a carefree Marilyn Monroe soaking up the sun on a beach between film takes
There are dozens of pictures from the sets of other films including Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Prince and the Showgirl, Niagara and Something's Got to Give.
The archive includes letters and other ephemera and is expected to sell for thousands of when it all goes to auction.
Darren Julien, of Julien's auctioneers, said: ‘Whitey Snyder died in the 1990s and these items have come from his estate, so they have never been seen before.
‘Whitey was Marilyn's make-up artist for 16 years and had unlimited access to her.
‘They met when Monroe had her first screen test at 20th Century Fox in 1946.
The remarkable pictures, taken by make-up artist Allan 'Whitey' Snyder, on the set of Niagra in 1953, were never meant for publication and show a more natural side of the screen legend
‘Sometimes, especially in the early days of her movie career, she would get nervous on set and Whitey would photograph her and she would come to life.
‘It would take her mind off all her problems and this would happen during down time on film sets.
‘Some of them even show her in costume and they were never intended to be released to the public.
‘There are many other items in the archive as well as photographs and collectors and institutions will be keen to own them.’
The sale also includes a rare calendar with a picture of a naked Monroe on it.
The picture was taken by Tom Kelly and famously appeared in the first edition of Playboy.
Julien said: ‘These calendars used to sell for about 300 or 400 dollars but recently they are going for up to $6,000.
‘This one is in good condition and Marilyn couldn't do anything about the picture being licensed because she had no control over it.
‘But in a way it was the picture that helped launch her career.’
The archive will be sold in Beverley Hills, California, during a two-day sale starting on March 31.
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