Marilyn Monroe’s topless pictures from her last ever photo shoot to be auctioned next month

A complete set of rare vintage chromogenic prints from Marilyn Monroe’s last ever photo shoot – in which she posed topless – has emerged for sale.

And they are set to fetch a pretty penny when they are auctioned next month.

They were taken by photographer Bert Stern in 1962 just six weeks before Marilyn Monroe was found dead at the age of 36.

Original shots taken from the session – called The Last Sitting – are in huge demand across the world and were originally taken for Vogue magazine.

Because these have been displayed for many years, the color has “shifted” slightly, but even so the set is expected to fetch more than $24,000 at auction.

Bert Stern’s three-day session with the famous blonde was a return to form for the glamour queen after a few difficult years.

The complete set of rare vintage chromogenic prints from Marilyn Monroe’s last ever photo shoot will be auctioned next month

Marilyn Monroe is pictured playing with a see-through scarf and pouts and poses like the model professional that she was.

In the pictures Marilyn Monroe appears and healthy and happy and there is no clue to suggest she was close to death.

Judith Eurich, from Bonhams, which is selling the prints, said: “This is a very popular set. It is unusual to find a whole set and the owner has had them since they were printed.

“Because they’ve been displayed the color has shifted slightly, or attenuated, which is what can happen to chromogenic prints.

“These were taken during Monroe’s last ever formal photo shoot just a few weeks before she died, which is kind of sad.

“She was very photogenic and knew how to seduce the camera and she enjoyed posing because it took her mind off other things.

“Typically these sets are broken up and the pictures sold individually.”

In the months before her death in August 1962, Marilyn Monroe had attended President John F. Kennedy’s birthday party where she famously sang “happy birthday, Mr. President”.

Marilyn Monroe was then sacked from the set of the film Something’s Got to Give because she kept failing to turn up.

She then embarked on numerous publicity stunts including the Vogue shoot with Bert Stern.

Marilyn Monroe was found dead in bed at her home in California in August 1962. The cause of death was recorded as “acute barbiturate poisoning”, resulting from a “probable suicide”.

It was said the last person to speak to Marilyn Monroe was JFK. The auction takes place in New York on May 8.

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