Eve Arnold American, 1912-2012
24 x 20 inch
Other sizes available upon request and subject to availability.
About the work:
In 1955, Eve photographed Marilyn Monroe reading James Joyce’s Ulysses. It’s an image that has puzzled and fascinated ever since.Recently someone from an art institution ask me if Eve had staged this photo, citing a reference that made this claim.
“No” I said, “Eve said that Monroe had the book with her and asked her to carry on reading it while she photographed.”
Eve said of Monroe:
“she had at least two hundred books on her shelves ranging from James Joyce’s Ulysses to Tom Paine’s Rights of Man.”
Eve consciously wanted to show that Marilyn was actually very well read and astute. Sixty years later this truth is only just coming to light.
What allowed that truth to come through was Eve’s attentive, non-judgmental presence. She didn’t manufacture the moment — she made space for it. And because Monroe trusted her, something real was able to rise to the surface
Exhibitions
Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait, National Portrait Gallery, London, 2026.