Bert Stern

Annie Gottlieb

In everyone's imagination Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962) will forever remain a woman of breath-taking sex appeal and unparalleled beauty - a myth that transcends continents and generations. Bert Stern, the famous advertisement and fashion photographer of the 60s, was the last to be granted a sitting by Marilyn Monroe - six weeks before her tragic death. The three-day session, which was arranged by Vogue and took place at the Los Angeles Bel-Air Hotel, yielded nearly 2,600 pictures - fashion, portraits and nude studies - of indescribable sensual and human vibrancy, of which vogue selected no more than twenty for publication. And yet these few photographs ineradicably shaped our image of Marilyn Monroe. The monumental body of work by the master photographer and the Hollywood actress, the most gifted photo model of her day, both quantitatively and qualitatively marks a climax in the history of star photography. A unique affirmation of the erotic dimension of photography and the eroticism of taking photographs, it is still the world's finest and largest tribute to Marilyn Monroe. Out of print for some time, our volume presenting the complete set of 2,571 photos is now available again in an unaltered edition. In his foreword, Bert Stern relates the planning and course of this unusual sitting that was to become a memorable and unrepeatable event for all involved - and especially for posterity.

The Complete Last Sitting

Marilyn Monroe

Fotografisk billedværk med kort beskrivelse af Marilyn Monroe, hendes liv og filmkarriere

The Last Sitting

"Over 300 of the most abused psychoactive drugs in the United States: generic, brand and street names, cautions, side effects, addictive potential, drug interactions, withdrawl and overdose symptoms, and treatment ... information on drug dependence and addiction, how to test yourself for a drug problem, how to get help. 16 pages of actual-size color photographs of prescription pills and lookalikes"--Back cover.

The Little Black Pill Book

Norman Mailer

TASCHEN has paired Mailer's original text (his 1973 biography Marilyn) with Bert Stern's extraordinary photographs- widely considered the most intimate ever taken of Monroe- to create a fitting tribute to the woman who, at the time of her death in 1962, was the world's most famous, a symbol of glamour and eroticism for an entire generation. But though she was feted and adored by her public, her private life was that of a little girl lost, desperate to find love and security. Mailer's Marilyn is beautiful, tragic, and complex. As Mailer reflects upon her life- from her bleak childhood through to the mysterious circumstances of her death - she emerges as a symbol of the bizarre decade during which she reigned as Hollywood's greatest female star. This book,conceived by Lawrence Schiller, Mailer's collaborator on five works, combines the author's masterful text with Stern's penetrating images of the 36-year-old Marilyn. Photographed for Vogue magazine over three days at the Bel-Air Hotel, Marilyn had never allowed such unfettered access, nor had she looked so breathtakingly beautiful. Six weeks later, mysteriously, she was dead. In this bold synthesis of literary classic and legendary portrait sitting, Mailer and Stern lift the veils of confusion surrounding Monroe - the woman, the star, the sex symbol - and offer profound insight into an iconic figure whose true personality remains an enigma even today.

Winter in China: An American Life (XLibris Press, 2014), introduces to American readers a man who was a mythic figure in China, though largely unknown in the West. Robert Winter lived through more than sixty years of China's turbulent twentieth century, while teaching Western culture in China's major universities. Winter was a man of many parts. Western scholars came to him for his intimate understanding of the daily life of Chinese people, both rickshaw pullers and intellectuals. He also played important roles in the anti-Japanese resistance and as an agent of an idealistic project by the famous literary critic I. A. Richards to enhance understanding between China and the West. Along with this, Winter's vital hobbies included gardening, nutrition (he was a follower of Adele Davis), oil painting, and musicology. Through it all Winter rode the often rough seas of history with dignity and courage, sometimes suffering the stings of Maoist anti-intellectual campaigns. Bert Stern learned the depth and scope of this story through a series of interview with the 97-year-old Winter, whom he restores to his rightful place in modern intellectual history. A Chinese edition of Winter in China will be published by Peking University Press in the spring of 2015.

WINTER IN CHINA

Monroe by Mailer and Stern "This book is really two books. It is a biography, and it is also a pictorial retrospective of an actress whose greatest love affair was conceivably with the camera." Norman Mailer wrote these words in his 1973 biography, Marilyn . Now TASCHEN has paired Mailer's original text with Bert Stern's extraordinary photographs —widely considered the most intimate ever taken of Monroe—to create a fitting tribute to the woman who, at the time of her death in 1962, was the world's most famous, a symbol of glamour and eroticism for an entire generation. But though she was feted and adored by her public, her private life was that of a little girl lost, desperate to find love and security. Mailer's Marilyn is beautiful, tragic, and complex . As Mailer reflects upon her life—from her bleak childhood through to the mysterious circumstances of her death—she emerges as a symbol of the bizarre decade during which she reigned as Hollywood's greatest female star. This book, conceived by Lawrence Schiller, Mailer’s collaborator on five works, combines the author’s masterful text with Stern's penetrating images of the 36-year-old Marilyn. Photographed for Vogue magazine over three days at the Bel-Air Hotel, Marilyn had never allowed such unfettered access, nor had she looked so breathtakingly beautiful. Six weeks later, mysteriously, she was dead. In this bold synthesis of literary classic and legendary portrait sitting, Mailer and Stern lift the veils of confusion surrounding Monroe—the woman, the star, the sex symbol—and offer profound insight into an iconic figure whose true personality remains an enigma even today. Limited to a total of 1,962 numbered copies signed by Bert Stern, this book is available as Collector's Edition (No. 1-1,712), and also in two Art Editions of 125 copies each (No. 1,713-1,962).

Poetry. In this exquisite third book, Bert Stern grapples with the elemental and the extraordinary, looking back on the length of his journey and finding realms of possibility, powerful proof of a life well lived. Moments of divine recognition pervade these poems--their rough terrains, their changing atmospheres and stunning grace--culminating in a profound sense of gratitude for the tactile world. Here is a poet writing at the height of his powers.

Bert Stern

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