Hotel Bel-Air is pleased to present a series of images taken by photographer Bert Stern featuring legendary women in Hollywood. The exhibition will take place in the lobby of Hotel Bel-Air through April 15 and will include images of Audrey Hepburn, Kate Moss, Sophia Loren, Iman, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Twiggy, Bridgette Bardot and more. The images of Marilyn Monroe were from a photoshoot at Hotel Bel-Air in 1962 which revealed a Marilyn completely unreserved yet utterly glamorous in wispy scarves, pink silk, birdcage veils, and an iconic black velour gown by Christian Dior. Collectively called The Last Sitting®, the intimate portraits would be the public’s final glimpse into the life of the Hollywood icon before her untimely death six weeks later.
Bert Stern was born in Brooklyn on October 3, 1929. His relationship with photography began early, in a 1968 interview with Newsday, he said his father was a children’s portrait photographer. After dropping out of high school in his senior year, he served in the Army, while working as a photographer on a base in Japan. That experience helped him land a job in the mailroom at Look magazine, where he became a protégé of Hershel Bramson, the art director, who would later give him his first job as a commercial photographer. Soon he was sought after by magazines, advertisers, Hollywood studios and fashion designers, and his range of subjects grew to include celebrities, movie stars and commercial products — Audrey Hepburn, Gary Cooper, Truman Capote, Twiggy, Elizabeth Taylor and, of course, Marilyn Monroe.
The exhibition is complimentary and open to the public 7 days a week. All photos are available for purchase through the hotel’s concierge.