THIS RELEASE HAS NOW ENDED
Thank you to everyone who supported Marilyn at Work.
Our time-limited A2 poster of Eve Arnold’s 1955 photograph of Marilyn Monroe reading Ulysses was available until 6 September 2026 and has now been retired.
Every purchase has helped support the preservation and sharing of Eve Arnold’s archive.
IT’S TIME TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT.
Marilyn was the character she created.
She played it so well, the world mistook it for the woman.
I am often asked:
“Why do you think Marilyn Monroe’s legacy is so enduring?”
We do not ask this of Marlon Brando.
Behind the question is an assumption: perhaps she was never really that remarkable.
She was.
Monroe was an actor of extraordinary instinct, intelligence and comic ability. The people who worked with her knew it.
“Marilyn is as near a genius as any actress I ever knew. She is an artist beyond artistry.”
Joshua Logan, director of Bus Stop
THE PHOTOGRAPH THE WORLD MISREAD
When Eve Arnold photographed Marilyn Monroe reading Ulysses in 1955, the image was treated as a contradiction: the “blonde bombshell” absorbed in one of literature’s most demanding books.
It wasn’t a contradiction.
Art historian Griselda Pollock later helped reveal its deeper significance. Marilyn was reading Molly Bloom’s soliloquy as part of her acting work with Lee Strasberg.
The book was not a prop. It was part of the work.
Eve did not photograph a woman trying to look intelligent. She photographed an actor preparing.
The image does not reveal a hidden side of Marilyn. It reveals how completely the public image had obscured the actor.
MARILYN WAS HER GREATEST ROLE.
She played it so brilliantly that the world stopped seeing the actor.
Michael Arnold and Carrie Kania in Conversation at the BFI.
A few days ago, Carrie Kania of Iconic Images and Michael Arnold, grandson of Eve, took part in a conversation at the BFI following a screening of the BBC documentary Eve and Marilyn.
They talked about something that remains surprising : how persistent the one-dimensional view of Marilyn Monroe is.
WHY WE CREATED THIS POSTER
This photograph still has something urgent to say.
It challenges one of the most persistent myths surrounding Marilyn Monroe and reflects something central to Eve Arnold’s work: her refusal to reduce people to an image or stereotype.
In recent years, the Eve Arnold Estate has released a growing number of small, editioned prints. We also recognise that fine-art photography remains beyond many people’s budgets.
This poster offers a more accessible way to live with Eve’s work while helping to preserve and share her archive.
Marilyn Monroe Reading Ulysses, 1955
A2 poster · £49 plus delivery · Worldwide shipping
Available only until 6 September 2026, when the design was retired.
Design and master file created by Danny Pope for the Eve Arnold Estate.
CREATED TO MARK
MARILYN MONROE: A PORTRAIT
This poster was created by the Eve Arnold Estate to coincide with Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait at the National Portrait Gallery, London, where Eve’s photographs form an important part of the exhibition.
It was available only until the exhibition closed on 6 September 2026, when the design was be retired.
