It’s Marilyn Monroe before she was Marilyn Monroe.
Rare photos set to go up for auction in December reveal a version of the blonde bombshell few would recognize.
The images, captured during the stunning starlet’s first photo shoots in 1946 when she was just 19, depict the actress when she still went by her real name, Norma Jean Dougherty, according to Darren Julien of Julien’s Auctions.
“What makes them unique is because they are the very first professional photo shoots of Marilyn,” he told the Daily News.
Plus, whoever buys the photos will not only own the prints, but also the rights to the photographs themselves – a rare and potentially profitable bonus.
MARILYN MONROE’S FAMOUS “LAST SITTING” – SEE THE PHOTOS HERE
“Generally when you buy a photograph, it’s just to frame and hang on your wall,” Julien explained. But “whoever buys these, they’ll have the rights to these images to distribute and sell.”
These photos are among 80 set to be auctioned off. (Joseph Jasgur/AP)
The collection of photos, taken by the late Joseph Jasgur for the Blue Book modeling agency, includes 80 photos. They have been locked away for decades due to legal battles, but a judge in Florida recently ruled they could finally be sold.
The images will be auctioned off individually during Julien’s Auctions’ annual “Icons & Idols” event to be held Dec. 2-4 in Beverly Hills, Calif.
The photographs are mostly black-and-whites, but about a third are in color, Julien said. Four were released in advance of the auction. One is a simple headshot, another has Monroe looking like a down-home country girl. Two feature her in a bikini, including one in color where she is seated on the beach.
Julien said the value of the photos is difficult to determine because they’ve never sold photos that include the rights to the photograph itself. He estimated that each could sell for “as much as $2,000 to $4,000.”
TREASURE TROVE OF MARILYN’S POSSESSIONS GO ON AUCTION
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