This belongs to Bert Stern’s best-known body of work: his photographs of Marilyn Monroe, taken over a three-day period six weeks before her death. These were her last posed photographs, and the portfolio has come to be known as "The Last Sitting." This portfolio of vintage gelatin silver prints was released in an edition of 250, split into glossy and matte editions of 125 each.

The photos were commissioned by Vogue magazine, and several of the images appeared in a commemorative issue following Monroe’s sudden death. A book containing these photographs, including copies of proofs over which Monroe had written comments or crossed her own image out with lipstick, was published in 1992 as Marilyn Monroe: The Complete Last Sitting.