id:			325470
accession number:	2019.31
share license status:	Copyrighted
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/2019.31
updated:		2024-03-26 02:02:06.062000

Marilyn Monroe Distortion, c. 1960. Weegee (American, 1899–1968). Gelatin silver print; image: 28 x 26.4 cm (11 x 10 3/8 in.); paper: 35.3 x 27.7 cm (13 7/8 x 10 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Diann G. Mann and Thomas A. Mann 2019.31

title:				Marilyn Monroe Distortion
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 1960
creation date earliest:		1955
creation date latest:		1965
current location:		
creditline:			Gift of Diann G. Mann and Thomas A. Mann
copyright:			

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culture:	America, 20th century
technique:	gelatin silver print
department:	Photography
collection:	PH - American 1951-Present
type:		Photograph
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

* Weegee (American, 1899–1968)  - artist
Weegee (Arthur H. Fellig) American, b. Austria-Hungary, 1899-1968 Born Usher Fellig (Usher was changed to Arthur by an immigration officer at Ellis Island) in Zloczew, Austria (now Poland), Weegee was a New York City press photographer famous during the 1930s-40s for his dramatic nighttime shots of murders, fires, and accidents. His family immigrated to the United States in 1910, and Weegee grew up in the tenements on Manhattan's Lower East Side. After a variety of jobs, he found employment with Acme Newspictures (1924-35, later United Press International Photos), where he worked first in the darkroom and then covering night assignments when the regular photographers were off duty. Weegee left Acme in 1935, establishing himself as a freelance news photographer. During these years he was given his nickname, a reference to the then popular Ouija board and his uncanny ability to discover news stories first. Using a Speed Graphic 4 x 5-inch camera with Graflex-synchronized flash, he worked mainly at night, listening to a radio that picked up police calls in order to arrive first at the scene of a disaster. He sold his pictures to the newspapers and the wire services, and in 1940 also became staff photographer for PM's Weekly. In addition to covering crimes and accidents, Weegee photographed nightclubs in Harlem, Sammy's bar in the Bowery, the Metropolitan Opera, Coney Island, and other genre scenes of New York. In 1943 his photographs were included in Action Photography at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the following year his work was featured in a solo exhibition at the Photo League (Weegee: Murder Is My Business). His popular book, Naked City, appeared in 1945, inspiring the film Weegee's New York two years later. Weegee was hired as a special consultant for the movie and following its completion in 1948 moved to Hollywood, where he worked as an actor and special effects advisor for films. During the 1950s-60s he was active as a freelance photographer in Hollywood and New York as well as Europe; he also worked with trick photography, producing caricatures of celebrities and well-known political figures. Since his 1968 death in New York City, his work has been the subject of one-person exhibitions at the International Center of Photography, New York (1977), and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1984). M.M.
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measurements: Image: 28 x 26.4 cm (11 x 10 3/8 in.); Paper: 35.3 x 27.7 cm (13 7/8 x 10 7/8 in.)
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support materials:


inscriptions:

	inscription:	Stamped in black ink on verso: “CREDIT PHOTO BY/WEEGEE/THE FAMOUS”
	translation:	
	remark:		

	inscription:	Stamped in black ink on verso: “PLEASE CREDIT/WEEGEE/FROM/PHOTO-REPRESENTATIVES”
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	remark:		

	inscription:	Imprinted in type on white adhesive label on verso of foam core backing board: “Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art/Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-4001/Return postage guaranteed/9. WeeGee (Arthur Fellig) (1899-1968) American/Marilyn Monroe, c. 1947/silver print/23 3/8 x 22 ½”/An American Portrait: Photographs from the/Collection of Diann and Thomas Mann/April 1-June 12, 1994”
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	remark:		

	inscription:	Imprinted in green type on yellow adhesive label on verso of foam core backing board: “THE FRAME CENTER/BP America Atrium/78-1999 Greens of Lyndhurst/473-0422/McFarland’s Corners/543-7003”
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	Fotomann, New York, NY
	date: 
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	Thomas A. and Diann G. Mann, Palm Beach Gardens, FL
	date: 1992-2019
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	the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: March 4, 2019
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Christie, Manson & Woods International Inc. An American Journey: The Diann G. and Thomas A. Mann Collection of Photographic Masterworks. 2018.
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IMAGES