Marilyn Monroe at the National Portrait Gallery – the woman who became a masterpiece

Laura Cumming | The Observer | 6th June 2026

This “riveting” show of Monroe portraits begs the question – is there any more to learn from yet another show?  The answer, it seems, is that we want to know the “real Marilyn”, not just the skilled actress and dazzling photographic creature. One writer says that she “anticipated the postmodern world and the age of Instagram, in which the self could be redefined [into multiple] identities”. The huge effort to create those identities required “dignified resilience … whoever she was, Marilyn lives.”