"Manifesting Marilyn: The Making of an Icon," a new exhibition celebrating Marilyn Monroe’s 100th birthday, opened in New York City on June 2, 2026, drawing celebrities like Chloë Sevigny to its six immersive spaces. The show, hosted at Genesis House through August 2, features rare artifacts from Monroe’s estate, including personal objects and documents that illuminate her inner life. The event coincides with a broader cultural reckoning with Monroe’s legacy, as artists and scholars continue to dissect her impact on Hollywood and pop culture.
The Book’s Insight into Monroe’s Persona
The exhibition’s focus on Monroe’s “authentic self” echoes themes explored in a new book, The Marilyn Monroe Century, by Joshua John Miller and Mark Fortin. The authors, who describe Monroe as “an architect of her own image,” argue that her persona was not merely a product of Hollywood but a calculated performance. Their work, timed to her centenary, draws on diaries and photographs from her early career, including those of Bruno Bernard, a photographer who mentored her in the 1940s. “The early days of who Norma Jeane really was… no one has really told that story,” Miller said, hinting at a potential film adaptation.
Contemporary Performers and Monroe’s Legacy
Monroe’s influence on contemporary performers remains profound. Scarlett Johansson, who once felt “the end of the road creatively” when offered Marilyn Monroe roles, and Catherine Deneuve, who praised Monroe’s “ability to do comedies, dramas, and seduce,” reflect the enduring pressure on female stars to navigate her shadow. Joyce Carol Oates, author of Blonde, emphasized that Monroe’s fame was a “performing self” shaped by survival instincts, a perspective that resonates in recent portrayals like Ana de Armas’ 2022 film.
Variety’s Analysis of Monroe’s Mythos
Variety’s analysis underscores how Monroe’s mythos—built on rags-to-riches narratives and tragic death—continues to define celebrity culture. “Every stage of her life has been the source of endless fascination,” the article notes, citing over 60 years of biopics, books, and artworks. The exhibition’s emphasis on her “new beginnings hall” suggests a shift from victimhood to agency, a theme the book reinforces by highlighting her strategic choices.
Critic Perspectives on Monroe’s Complex Legacy
For critics, the exhibition and book challenge reductive portrayals of Monroe. “She was funny, moving, seductive,” Deneuve told Variety in 2016, a sentiment echoed in the show’s curated artifacts. Yet the tension between her public image and private struggles persists. The Hollywood Reporter notes that while Monroe’s “Faustian deals” are now framed as acts of empowerment, her story remains a lens for examining Hollywood’s exploitation of women.
As the 100th-anniversary celebrations unfold, the question lingers: Can Monroe’s legacy be fully reclaimed from the mythmaking that shaped it? The exhibition and new scholarship suggest a growing effort to separate the woman from the icon, even as her image continues to captivate. For now, the 2026 tributes stand as both homage and a call to re-examine the complexities of a star who remains, in Oates’ words, “the performing self that really exists only when there is an audience.”
https://www.elle.com/culture/art-design/a71470528/best-fashion-exhibits-june-2026/
https://variety.
"Finishing the Picture" and "After the Fall," two plays by Arthur Miller, are frequently cited in analyses of Monroe’s legacy.
"I think I was offered every Marilyn Monroe script
