An appraiser’s perspective of an icon’s written words
by Martin Willis
I was recently involved in a very large appraisal and worked with a team of appraisers having varied specialties. It was my job to appraise the entertainment collection which included a vast amount of Marilyn Monroe artifacts, images and correspondence. To protect the client who owns the collection, I cannot get into too much detail in this blog, but I would like to express the experience of it all. I do not consider myself an expert on Marilyn Monroe, but I certainly know a lot more than I did before I took on this project.
When I think of Marilyn, I see those bedroom eyes, her signature mole above her lip and her platinum colored hair. She had a refreshing beauty that was timeless. This coming June 1, she would’ve been 86 years old and on August 5th, it will be the 50th Memorial Anniversary of her demise. Because of this Memorial and growing intrigue, her letters, signed photos and artifacts such as her belongings & apparel are becoming increasingly in demand. A good example of this phenomenon was the famous Subway Dress at the Debbie Reynolds Auction last year which sold for $4.6 million.