Marilyn Monroe pics sold for nearly $150,000

[December 17, 2008]  NEW YORK (AP) -- A collection of photographs of Marilyn Monroe taken for Vogue magazine the year she died has been auctioned in New York for nearly $150,000.

A spokeswoman for Christie's auction house says the 36 photos taken by Bert Stern sold for $146,500 on Tuesday. The pre-sale estimate was $100,000 to $150,000.

Christie's says the photos from a 1962 shoot were the last professional images taken of Monroe before she died that year of a drug overdose. They ran in Vogue instead as a memorial.

They're among more than 100 Monroe images being offered for sale at Christie's. The sale continues Wednesday.

Also at Christie's Tuesday, four Helmut Newton photographs, titled "They're Coming, Paris (Naked and Dressed)," sold for $662,500.

The buyers were anonymous.

[Associated Press]

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