This exceptional oil painting by Earl Moran (American, 1893-1984) is of the iconic sex symbol/movie star, Marilyn Monroe, painted in 1946 when Marilyn was just 20 years old. Signed along the lower right quadrant. Moran, one of the most renowned pin-up artists of his time, generally worked exclusively in pastels and rarely painted oil paintings. This work is one of the best examples of his depiction of Marilyn Monroe, posed bathed in sunlight on a cushion.

Moran's association with Monroe began in February 1946 when Blue Book Agency sent young Norma Jean Baker to his studio. He paid her $10 an hour to pose for him and she quickly became on of his favorite subjects to paint. He thought that she could pose better than any other model and said in a later interview, "Emotionally she did everything right. She expressed just what I wanted." When they last met in 1954 on the set of "There's No Business Like Show Business" she hugged him and told him that she loved the way that he made her look.

Moran studied at the Chicago Art Institute before moving on to the famed Art Students League in Manhatten where he learned from Vincent Drumond, Robert Henri, Thomas Fogarty, and George Bridgman. He eventually signed an exclusive contract to paint for the calendar company Brown and Bigelow in 1932. In 1940 Life magazine ran a feature titled "Speaking of Pictures" which focused almost solely on Moran's work. This launched him to the status of a national celebrity and he eventually moved to Hollywood in 1946 to paint celebrities including Betty Grable and Marilyn Monroe. Around 1955 he moved to Las Vegas to devote his time to fine-art subjects with a focus on nude portraits. He would go on to paint until 1982 when his eyesight failed him.

Sight; height: 39 3/4 in x width: 29 1/2 in. Framed; height: 45 1/4 in x width: 35 in.