In this iconic image from May 1962, Lawrence Schiller captures Marilyn Monroe at her most elemental—emerging from a swimming pool on the 20th Century Fox set of Something’s Got to Give. What began as a straightforward assignment for the French magazine Paris Match quickly became one of the most indelible moments in photographic and cultural history. Eschewing studio lights and formal staging, Schiller worked fluidly, allowing Monroe to move freely, relaxed and playful, fully in command of her image.

The resulting photographs stunned the world. When Monroe surfaced in a flesh-colored bikini—appearing almost nude—the image transcended publicity stills and entered legend. Here, Monroe is not performing a role but embodying one: the fully realized Marilyn, smiling, confident, and timeless. The photograph crystallizes the paradox at the heart of her myth—simultaneously natural and constructed, vulnerable and eternal—captured just months before her death and forever suspended in the public imagination.

• Photographer: Lawrence Schiller

• Subject: Marilyn Monroe

• Film Set: Something’s Got to Give (20th Century Fox)

• Date: May 1962

• Medium: Color photographic print

• Genre: Celebrity photography / Documentary portraiture

• Lighting: Available light

• Significance: One of the most famous images of Marilyn Monroe, emblematic of her enduring cultural mythology

• 16"H x 20"W
• AP2/ 5 signed