Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Dimaggio, JFK, Miller,....

I love Marilyn Monroe.  When I was little, I could not get over how beautiful she was and how sad and interesting her life had been.  Also, my mom introduced me to the song, Norma Jean, by Elton John which I am still completely in love with to this day, so I was kind of obsessed, to say the least.  She embodied Hollywood in it's most physical form.  The fame, money, men, clothing, and drugs.  A little boring background:

Marilyn Monroe, originally born Norma Jeane Mortenson, was one of the biggest sex symbols the of 20th century.  She mad her name as a comedic actress, as well as being a model and a singer.  Starring in many roles, including The Seven Year Itch, Sum Like it Hot, Gentleman Prefer Blondes, and How to Marry a Millionaire, Monroe became the talk of Hollywood.  She was also widely known for her very public relationships with many of America's leading men, like Arthur Miller, Joe Dimaggio, and President JFK.

I still love calling her Norma Jean in my head because I feel like its more personal, as if I am the only one in the whole wide world who really knows her and the rest of the world just looks at her like a piece of meat.  I guess its the impact of Elton Johns song.  I still listen to it at least like 100 times a week.

I also think that her death is one of the greatest mysteries of all.  No one knows if she committed suicide by overdose or if she took the wrong set of pills by accident.  Some even believe its homicide.  However, no matter how she died, she was found naked in her bathroom, dead and cold.  A humiliating and devastating death to say the least.




























Friday, April 8, 2011

Roy

Roy Lichtenstein.  Boy, do I love Roy.  He has become one of my most favorite artists now that I am in my new comic book/geek phase.  Many of his most famous paintings deeply resemble old comic book frames and they are simple creative.  Roy was born on October 27, 1923 in New York City and died on September 29, 1997.  His creativity began when he was drafted into WWII in 1943 and drew up war maps for the troops who were moving across Germany.  Once he returned, he received his bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Ohio State University and a master of Fine Arts degree a little later on.  He then taught at Oswego State College and Rutgers.  Three years later, he gave up teaching to paint full-time.