Marilyn Monroe | Handwritten Free Association Notes

Four pages torn from an Italian agenda, dating between 1955 and 1956, feature notes handwritten in pencil by Marilyn Monroe. It is believed that the pages correspond to Monroe's work with Dr. Hohenberg, in which she began practicing self-analysis and working on her repressed memories. The notations in pencil jump from one topic to the next, wandering around the physical pages themselves and even passing from one page to the next and then back again. It is difficult to follow, but the topics include examining her childhood need to lie to her teacher, her physical insecurities, self-conscious thoughts of what others think of her drinking, speculation that "Peter" is capable of violence and possibly wants to be her, as well as a touching passage about Arthur Miller: "I am so concerned/ about protecting Arthur/ I love him-and he is the/ only person-human being I have/ ever known that I could love not only/ as a man to which I am attracted to practically/ out of my senses about-but he is the only/ person-as another human being that I trust as/ much as myself-because when I do trust my-/ self (about certain things) I do fully, and I/ do about him also." Another revealing passage reads in part, "… fear to touch my own body/ after Buddy (I started to write Bad instead of Buddy-/ slip in writing?)/ because A.I. punished me/ with fear and whipped me-/ ‘The bad part of my body’ she said-/ must never touch myself/ there or let anyone." It is believed that "A.I." refers to Aunt Ida Martin, a foster mother who punished Monroe as a child, possibly after a sexual abuse incident, with the "Buddy" mentioned here.

4.25 x 6.75 inches

PROVENANCE Lot 176, "Property From the Estate of Lee Strasberg," Julien's Auctions, Beverly Hills, November 17, 2016