Exhibition - Marilyn Monroe Exhibition: 100 Years! — The Icon, the Archives, and the Making of a Legend

By Mulder, 25 february 2026

From April 8 to July 26, 2026, the Cinémathèque Française is dedicating a major exhibition to Marilyn Monroe to celebrate the centenary of her birth, and the ambition is clear: to go beyond the myth, beyond the pin-up, to crack the icon and rediscover the actress. Entitled Exposition Marilyn Monroe: 100 ans ! (Marilyn Monroe Exhibition: 100 Years!), this retrospective produced by the Parisian institution and curated by Florence Tissot offers a rich journey through original costumes, film clips, photographs, and rare documents, placing the actress at the heart of the history of the Hollywood star system. For while Marilyn Monroe remains one of the most instantly recognizable figures in global popular culture, she is paradoxically still underestimated as an actress, as if the blinding light of stardom had erased the work of composition behind each role.

“I can be smart when it's important, but most men don't like that.” " This line from Howard Hawks' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) now serves as an ironic and cruel commentary on her career: hired in Hollywood between 1946 and 1962, Marilyn Monroe had to contend with a ruthless studio system that manufactured images as much as it exploited them. The exhibition highlights how the visual opulence of the 1950s helped shape her aura, through glamorous promotional material, her legendary wardrobe, and portraits by renowned artists such as Eve Arnold, Richard Avedon, and Andy Warhol, whose works cemented her posthumous iconic status. Her death at the age of 36 opened a spectacular chapter of life after death, fueled by the media, biographical exegesis, and a persistent fascination with the tragic fate of a young woman who became a myth. The exhibition celebrates this legacy through an installation inspired by ballroom culture, which Madonna popularized in pop culture long before the Drag Race era, highlighting how Marilyn Monroe continues to influence contemporary forms of representation.

While the public often remembers her through still images (dresses lifted by a subway vent, skillfully orchestrated lascivious poses), one of the major challenges of the exhibition is precisely to bring her performances back into focus. Too often, her roles have been interpreted as a simple extension of her personal fragilities or the chaos of filming, reducing her acting to a form of filmed neurosis rather than conscious creation. Comments from some of her contemporaries contributed to this perception: Fritz Lang claimed that she was perfectly aware of her effect on men “and that's all,” John Huston declared that “she didn't act,” while Arthur Miller believed that in everything she did, she was simply “herself.” In hindsight, these judgments appear less like analyses than like shortcuts that contributed to erasing the work of interpretation. However, as James Naremore points out in Acting in the Cinema (1988), careful observation of expressions, gestures, and interactions on screen reveals a true composition. From John Huston's As Time Goes By (1950) onwards, despite her brief appearances, Marilyn Monroe displayed a wider emotional range than her co-stars, already signaling a subtle and controlled acting strategy.

The exhibition also examines the mechanisms of the star system through the work of Richard Dyer, who pointed out in 1986 that Marilyn Monroe crystallized the contradictions of an America that was both puritanical and obsessed with sexuality, particularly through her image as a supposedly spontaneous pin-up girl. In 1945, modeling allowed her to escape her working-class background and get divorced, before appearing on the covers of numerous magazines in less than a year. Twentieth Century Fox then shaped this image of a playful woman, eroticized without vulgarity, in her films and public appearances, constructing a promotional narrative that would be taken up by her early biographers. Sarah Churchwell, in her critical historiography, reminds us how beliefs often preceded facts, and how these narratives sometimes say more about society than about the woman they claim to reveal.

In 1955, Billy Wilder's The Seven Year Itch offered the most exhibitionist and parodic version of the pin-up, while the following year, in Joshua Logan's Bus Stop, Marilyn Monroe attempted to take on more complex roles, an ambition that paradoxically coincided with a deterioration of her public image. As if her artistic aspirations were perceived as a transgression, her desire to be recognized as a dramatic actress was thwarted by the persistence of the “dumb blonde” stereotype. This tension fueled legends, amplified after her death and the dispersal of her estate, now largely owned by private collectors or exploited by financial holding companies managing her rights. The myth, however, remains intact, carefully maintained.

The official exhibition catalog, edited by Florence Tissot and published by GrandPalaisRmnÉditions (296 pages, €40), is the first collection of essays in French devoted to the actress. Richly illustrated, it aims to reposition the way Marilyn Monroe is viewed, highlighting her exceptional photogenic qualities while rehabilitating her work as an actress.

To accompany the exhibition, the Cinémathèque is offering a complete retrospective of Marilyn Monroe's films from April 8 to May 24, followed by screenings every weekend, as well as a program of lectures and special screenings: Marilyn Monroe, actress: acting schools by Marguerite Chabrol (April 9 at 7 p.m.), “MM/BB: National and International Blondes” by Ginette Vincendeau (May 29 at 7 p.m.), Marilyn Monroe and CinemaScope by Kira Kitsopanidou (June 5 at 5 p.m.), screenings with discussions on Bus Stop with Richard Dyer and Marguerite Chabrol, Niagara with Florence Tissot, The Seven Year Itch as part of Murielle Joudet's film club, and Trouble Me Tonight with Jean-Victor Blanc, as well as a presentation of Home Town Story by Élias Hérody. Themed tours entitled “Crossing Hollywood film genres with Marilyn Monroe” will offer guided tours followed by film analyses, while “Jeudis Jeunes” (Youth Thursdays) will offer free admission to students and those under 26.

Open Monday, Wednesday to Friday from 12pm to 7pm, and from 11am to 8pm on weekends, public holidays, and school vacations (closed on Tuesdays and May 1), the exhibition offers free evening openings for 18-25 year olds on the second Thursday of each month until 9pm upon registration, guided tours on weekends at 4:30pm, tours in French Sign Language on April 18 and May 30 at 11:30am, as well as participation in Museum Night on May 23 from 7pm to midnight. Prices are €14 for full price, €11 for reduced price and for 18-25 year olds, €7 for under 18s, with free access for Libre Pass holders.

In celebrating the centenary of Marilyn Monroe, the Cinémathèque Française is not merely commemorating an icon: it offers a different perspective on an actress too often frozen in myth, reminding us that behind the immortal image lay a conscious, strategic artist deeply committed to her art.

(Source: press release)