RARE 3-D FILMSTRIP DEPICTING NUDE NORMA JEANE BAKER DOUGHERTY (LATER KNOWN AS MARILYN MONROE),circa May 1945. One of nine double-images on film strips depicting various individual nude models photographed in Hollywood area outdoor landscape settings; filmstrips numberd 1, 2, and 17 (Monroe images appear on strip. No. 1.) On 35mm Anscocolor film, in 3-D format with plastic casing devised for use in Modelscope Viewer produced in Hollywood, CA. Full-length body view, head-to-ankle. Photo attributed to W. O. Schwartz, located in 1945, at 426 S. Spring Street, Los Angeles, six blocks from the Ambassador Hotel which housed the Blue Book Modeling agency, employer of Norma Jeane. This image is thought to be one of at least two different poses of Norma Jeane's first nude photo session (significantly pre-dating Tom Kelley's famous image of 1949), and one of her first photographs as a professional model. (See Sloans & Kenyon Auctioneers and Appraisers, Sale 25, Lot 1488, November 12, 2006, filmstrip with another pose from this same series taken during the same photo shoot.) Estimate $4,000-6,000
PROVENANCE: Father of present owner was tankman in Patton's Third Army, World War II, stationed near Hollywood, CA, in late 1940s, at which time he acquired the Modelscope viewer and slides.
PLEASE NOTE: To preserve the value of this never-before-published image for the successful bidder, a portion of the photograph has been strategically blocked for illustration. However, the full nude image can be viewed at the Sloans & Kenyon gallery prior to auction.
