Marilyn Monroe's Iconic "White Dress" Photograph Under Bankruptcy Protection

According to an article published in The Wall Street Journal, "A treasure trove of photographs taken by the late Sam Shaw, whose most iconic frozen moment captures Marilyn Monroe standing over a subway grate with her white dress billowing up around her, is now under Chapter 11 protection.

The bankruptcy filing by Shaw Family Archives Ltd. Wednesday is just another chapter in the Shaw family’s history, a plot filled with equal parts glamour and contention. Edith Marcus, the organization’s president and Sam Shaw’s daughter, blamed the filing on “a series of lawsuits involving the photographs and other issues.” She wasn’t available to comment on the restructuring Wednesday.

Sam Shaw, according to the archive’s website, started off as a magazine photographer but later found his home in the film industry. He and his son Larry captured images of A-list movie stars like Fred Astaire, Humphrey Bogart, Marlon Brando, Judy Garland, Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor. That’s not to mention a host of other luminaries like athletes, musicians, directors, artists and authors—Muhammad Ali, Louis Armstrong, the Beatles, Cecil B. DeMille, Marcel Duchamp and Elie Wiesel are all on the list.

But it was Shaw’s relationship with Monroe that stood out. According to the New York Times, Monroe—who would have been 85 Wednesday—called Shaw for advice during the demise of her marriage to baseball player Joe DiMaggio. DiMaggio and fellow Monroe-ex Arthur Miller are also among Shaw’s many famous subjects.

As if the celebrity rolodex isn’t compelling enough, add a family feud to the mix. In a 1994 lawsuit, Shaw accused son Larry of stealing photographs and sought $100 million in damages as well as a ruling that he, not his son, owned thousands of photographs, including the famous (and the most lucrative) Monroe photos. Larry Shaw fought back over some of the photographs in question, arguing that he had shot them. According to New York court records, when Sam Shaw died several years into the lawsuit, his daughters Edith Shaw Marcus and Meta Shaw Stevens stepped into their father’s shoes.

The family struck a settlement in 2002 under which Shaw Family Archives was created to take ownership of the 500,000 photos in Sam Shaw’s possession as well as 20,000 photos Larry Shaw had. Larry Shaw got a 50% ownership stake in the archives, while the sisters split the remaining 50%. In the organization’s bankruptcy petition, Larry Shaw’s estate—he has since died—maintains its 50% stake, but the sisters each now own 10% stakes. Other family members own the rest.

Even with that lawsuit settled, the Shaw family became entangled in more litigation. The attorneys who represented both sides of the family in the prior lawsuit sought to place liens of more than $1 million on the photographs. In 2007, a New York court upheld a ruling granting the liens on the photos and also extended the liens to any recovery of insurance proceeds related to the collection of images. Both attorneys are now listed among Shaw Family Archives’ creditors in its bankruptcy petition—one is owed $488,720 plus interest, while the other has a claim for $557,505.77 plus interest.

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Posted in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy , sam shaw bankruptcy , shaw family archives bankruptcy