Marilyn Monroe Centenary Fuels Fans, Museum Shows and Auctions

Overview

• More than 1,000 people dressed as Marilyn Monroe gathered in Palm Springs on Saturday to mark what organizers said was a new Guinness record for the largest meeting of people costumed as the star.
• The Academy Museum in Los Angeles opened the exhibition 'Marilyn Monroe: Ícone de Hollywood' on the centenary, presenting hundreds of original items including costumes, annotated scripts and personal effects on view through February 2027.
• Julien's Auctions has scheduled a sale of nearly 200 Monroe-linked items for June 4, a high-profile commercial event that includes rare photos, handwritten recipes, an annotated script from an unfinished project and a lipstick said to have belonged to Monroe.
• Retrospectives in Brazil and other international programs are screening lesser-known films and publishing archival photos as curators and scholars emphasize Monroe's drama training, studio battles and efforts to control her career beyond the 'dumb blonde' image.
• Monroe's visual legacy continues to shape beauty and fashion trends and to underwrite strong market demand for related art and collectibles, a pattern that links museum programming, fan rituals and auction prices a century after her birth.