Collecting Marilyn: From Hollywood to Bendigo

With the much-anticipated Australian exhibit, Twentieth Century Fox Presents Marilyn Monroe, opening at the Bendigo Art Gallery next Friday (March 5), Los Angeles-based collector Scott Fortner – whose treasure trove will be featured extensively in the display – has been interviewed by Time Out.

“I’ve basically been collecting Marilyn Monroe related pieces for as long as I can remember. In junior high I bought my first Marilyn book and also my first Marilyn Monroe collectible, which was a poster composed of a collage of Marilyn photos – I still have that poster today. For quite some time, my collection focused on Marilyn Monroe books. I bought (and still do) just about every book that came out about her.

In 1999, Marilyn’s personal estate went up for auction via Christie’s New York. Not long after that sale, Marilyn’s items started being auctioned on eBay, and that’s when I really started expanding my collection to include her personal property … It’s a very expensive hobby and one that becomes more and more expensive all the time. Over 50 years after her death, items from her personal life and her films are only going up in value …”

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