Description

Monroe Gold Original Variation by Rob Bishop.

This piece of art is etched on maple wood.

Rob Bishop is a Hertfordshire/Essex based mixed media artist who studied graphic design at college and model making at University. Rob Bishop just loves wood. For several years he has worked as a cabinet maker and by combining all his skills he has developed a unique style of artwork that has caught public attention. Rob uses a mixed media approach to his work which combines digital art, wood work and painting. He will digitally manipulate an image, etches it onto a 12mm maple veneered board then hand paints the piece by using many layers of wood stains, spray paints and lacquer. When satisfied with the image a final layer of lacquer is applied followed by a hand polished finish to produce originals or a series of original variations and finishes with a hand made frame. He produces either a large one-off original or a series of 10 or 45 whereby each image is hand finished and coloured to ensure uniqueness in every piece. Both the artwork and frame are finished with a thumbprint signature. No two pieces can ever be the same each therefore are truly original.

Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 – August 4, 1962) was an American actress, model, and singer. Famous for playing comic “blonde bombshell” characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s and was emblematic of the era’s changing attitudes towards sexuality. Although she was a top-billed actress for only a decade, her films grossed $200 million (equivalent to $2 billion in 2018) by the time of her unexpected death in 1962. More than half a century later, she continues to be a major popular culture icon.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Monroe spent most of her childhood in foster homes and an orphanage and married at the age of 16. While working in the Radioplane Company in 1944 as part of the war effort during World War II, she was introduced to a photographer from the First Motion Picture Unit and began a successful pin-up modeling career. The work led to short-lived film contracts with Twentieth Century-Fox (1946–1947) and Columbia Pictures (1948). After a series of minor film roles, she signed a new contract with Fox in 1951. Over the next two years, she became a popular actress and had roles in several comedies, including As Young as You Feel and Monkey Business, and in the dramas Clash by Night and Don’t Bother to Knock. Monroe faced a scandal when it was revealed that she had posed for nude photos before she became a star, but the story did not tarnish her career and instead resulted in increased interest in her films.

By 1953, Monroe was one of the most marketable Hollywood stars; she had leading roles in the noir film Niagara, which focused on her sex appeal, and the comedies Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire, which established her star image as a “dumb blonde”. The same year, her images were used as the centerfold and on the cover of the first issue of the men’s magazine Playboy. Although she played a significant role in the creation and management of her public image throughout her career, she was disappointed when she was typecast and underpaid by the studio. She was briefly suspended in early 1954 for refusing a film project but returned to star in one of the biggest box office successes of her career, The Seven Year Itch (1955).