Seraphic Secret

Robert J. Avrech: Emmy Award winning screenwriter. Movie fanatic. Helplessly and hopelessly in love with my wife since age nine.

Friday Photos: True Hollywood Confessions

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Marilyn Monroe reading Ulysses by James Joyce. Photographed in 1955 by Eve Arnold. “She kept ‘Ulysses’ in her car and had been reading it for a long time. She said she loved the sound of it and would read it aloud to herself to try to make sense of it–but she found it hard going. She couldn’t read it consecutively. When we stopped at a local playground to photograph she got out the book and started to read while I loaded the film. So, of course, I photographed her.” —Eve Arnold.
Marilyn Monroe reading Ulysses by James Joyce. Photographed in 1955 by Eve Arnold.
“She kept ‘Ulysses’ in her car and had been reading it for a long time. She said she loved the sound of it and would read it aloud to herself to try to make sense of it–but she found it hard going. She couldn’t read it consecutively. When we stopped at a local playground to photograph she got out the book and started to read while I loaded the film. So, of course, I photographed her.”
—Eve Arnold.

 

Berthe Morisot (French artist, 1841-1895) On a Bench
Berthe Morisot (French artist, 1841-1895) On a Bench

 

Bill Brandt Eva and Lyena on the balcony, 1934
Bill Brandt
Eva and Lyena on the balcony, 1934

 

Adolph Gottlieb “Mist” 1961 Oil on canvas 72 x 48 in (182.9 x 121.9 cm) Guggenheim, NY
Adolph Gottlieb
“Mist” 1961 Oil on canvas 72 x 48 in (182.9 x 121.9 cm) Guggenheim, NY

 

Michael Kenna Alley of Trees, Damyang, Jeollanamdo, South Korea, 2012
Michael Kenna
Alley of Trees, Damyang, Jeollanamdo, South Korea, 2012

 

In 2013, a Rolex Oyster, made circa 1945, owned by silent film star Charlie Chaplin was offered in auction. The watch was notable not only for having belonged to Chaplin, but also for it’s rarity as one of the few left-handed models produced by Rolex during this period. The watch was accompanied by four vintage photos and various authenticating correspondence. The Rolex sold for $51,250, over four times its high estimate of $12,000.
In 2013, a Rolex Oyster, made circa 1945, owned by silent film star Charlie Chaplin was offered in auction. The watch was notable not only for having belonged to Chaplin, but also for it’s rarity as one of the few left-handed models produced by Rolex during this period. The watch was accompanied by four vintage photos and various authenticating correspondence. The Rolex sold for $51,250, over four times its high estimate of $12,000.

 

André Kertész Circus, Budapest, 1920
André Kertész
Circus, Budapest, 1920

 

Herbert List Via della Lungarni, Trastevere, Rome, 1953
Herbert List
Via della Lungarni, Trastevere, Rome, 1953

 

”This photo is beautiful because it reminds me of Cary. He was one of the most special people in my life. He was the one who called to tell me I won my Oscar. He was funny, he was vulnerable, and we stayed friends, talking on the phone all the time until the day he died.” —Sophia Loren
”This photo is beautiful because it reminds me of Cary. He was one of the most special people in my life. He was the one who called to tell me I won my Oscar. He was funny, he was vulnerable, and we stayed friends, talking on the phone all the time until the day he died.”
—Sophia Loren

 

Jay DeFeo Dove One, 1989 oil on linen; 16 x 20 in.
Jay DeFeo
Dove One, 1989
oil on linen; 16 x 20 in.

 

Edouard Boubat Montmartre, Paris, 1948
Edouard Boubat
Montmartre, Paris, 1948

 

Ohara Koson Small Butterfly and Sunflower c.1900
Ohara Koson
Small Butterfly and Sunflower c.1900

 

Michael Kenna Cliff and Clouds, Etretat, Haute-Normandie, France, 2000
Michael Kenna
Cliff and Clouds, Etretat, Haute-Normandie, France, 2000

 

William Holden voice-over in Sunset Boulevard, 1950 Written by: Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, D. M. Marshman, Jr.
William Holden voice-over in Sunset Boulevard, 1950
Written by: Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, D. M. Marshman, Jr.

 

David Hockney "A Bigger Splash" 1967
David Hockney
“A Bigger Splash”
1967

 

“Acting is the most minor of gifts and not a very high-class way to earn a living. After all, Shirley Temple could do it at the age of four.” —Katherine Hepburn
“Acting is the most minor of gifts and not a very high-class way to earn a living. After all, Shirley Temple could do it at the age of four.”
—Katherine Hepburn

 

Edgar Degas Ballerinas, 1884
Edgar Degas
Ballerinas, 1884

 

Michael Kenna Diving Boards and Cruise Ship, Nice, France, 1997
Michael Kenna
Diving Boards and Cruise Ship, Nice, France, 1997

 

Egon Schiele Woman with Black Hat 1909; Vienna, Austria oil, canvas
Egon Schiele
Woman with Black Hat
1909; Vienna, Austria
oil, canvas

 

Robert J. Avrech, Silent Picture, Lipstick Display, Dallas, 2016
Robert J. Avrech, Silent Picture, Lipstick Display, Dallas, 2016

 

Women of the Lemba Jewish community. Manavhela, Limpopo Province, South Africa. August 2015. (Photo by Jono David)
Women of the Lemba Jewish community. Manavhela, Limpopo Province, South Africa. August 2015. (Photo by Jono David)

 

Ariel wishes all our friends and relatives a peaceful and uplifting Shabbat.
Ariel wishes all our friends and relatives a peaceful and uplifting Shabbat.

 

Ed Ruscha, The Absolute End, dry pigment on paper, 1982.
Ed Ruscha, The Absolute End, dry pigment on paper, 1982.

 

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Comments

  1. Looking at Michael Kenna’s “Cliff and Clouds,” I think of Churchill’s “The Gathering Storm.”

    I was curious regarding the one of “Women of the Lemba Jewish community” and found this: “The Lemba emblem is the Star of David, with an elephant at its centre. The elephant signifies the clan’s membership to the Venda nation, and it’s their symbol of might, peace and intellect.”

    From what I read, there is nothing definitive about their ancestry, although there is some genetic linkage to other Jewish Groups. Evidently, their religious practices are somewhat syncretistic.

  2. Ariel has a nice smile! I think the best photos, like the one of MM, are spontaneous. I’ll take these kind over Richard Avedon any day. These are truly a “slice of time”.

    You have a photographer’s eye, Robert. You can find something that most consider mundane – like the lipstick display – and make it interesting.

  3. That Hockney painting is a neat surprise. Scrolling down, at first it looks like a very geometric design, somewhat like Rietveld’s structures. Then all of a sudden there is the randomness of that big splash. Fun contrast, nicely executed.

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