DALLAS, TX.- Photography collectors will have their pick of a wide spectrum of striking images in Heritage Auctions' Holiday Online Photographs Auction Dec. 13.

"There is something for everyone on your holiday gift list in this auction especially if they are Marilyn Monroe fans!" Heritage Auctions Director of Photography Nigel Russell said. "While the sale contain photographs by well-known photographers, this selection is very affordable with many of the lots being offered without reserve."

John Stewart's 1977 Group of Seven Photographs featuring Muhammad Ali (est. $7,000-10,000) offers an intimate, personal look at the fighter known simply as "The Greatest" through a range of images that includes close-ups of his clenched fists and flexed arms to an image of his sweat-covered face and a pair of relaxed poses of the man some consider the greatest boxer who ever lived. Stewart, who died in May 2017, was known for capturing images of some of the world's most famous artists, like Picasso, Matisse and Braque, but it is this group of images that afforded him his greatest fame and recognition. Each of the images — the largest of which measures 27-14 by 20-3/8 inches — is signed and dated in the margin, and the lot includes a black plastic binder containing the original negatives.

Gertrude Käsebier's 1905 Portrait of Auguste Rodin (est. $6,000-8,000) is a gum bichromate print on tissue mounted to heavy paper. The image size is 13-1/4 x 10-1/4 inches (33.7 x 26.0 cm) and it is signed in pencil on the mount recto. The image brings together two iconic artists: Käsebier is recognized widely as one of the most influential American photographers of the early 20th century, while Rodin was a renowned French sculptor considered by some to be the founder of modern sculpture.

Diane Arbus' 1969 Transvestite at her Birthday Party, N.Y.C. (est. $5,000-7,000) is among the images that helped the photographer earn a reputation for her work shooting non-traditional subjects, i.e. transgender, nudists, circus performers, etc. In this image, the subject's birthday party appears to consist of an otherwise empty room and a birthday cake. The image, which measures 14-7/8 by 14-1/2 inches, is signed, titled, dated and editioned "36/75" in pencil with Arbus' estate stamp on the verso.

Joel-Peter Witkin Christ Dismissing Fashionable Artists from the Temple of Art (est. $3,000-5,000) is one of the constructed images for which the New Mexico-based photographer is known. Witkin builds scenes with an array of elements, ranging from people with differences or abnormalities to cadavers and hermaphrodites, and sometimes introduces literary, religious or historical references, such as the image of Jesus Christ in this image. Measuring 11-3/8 inches high by 15-1/2 inches wide, this image is signed, titled, dated and annotated in pencil on mount verso.

Marilyn Monroe
One group of photos sure to draw considerable attention is a selection of 29 photos by different artists of arguably the most popular Hollywood starlet of all time: Marilyn Monroe.

The Monroe images include:

Leif Erik Nygards' 1962 Marilyn Monroe, Bel Air Hotel Digital Dye Coupler (est. $3,500-4,500) is an extraordinary image that measures 10-1/2 inches high by 15-3/4 inches wide, and is particularly notable because it is believed to be the last professional photo of Monroe taken before her death Aug. 5, 1962.

Bert Stern's 1961 Marilyn Monroe with Diamonds (est. $2,000-3,000) brings to life everything glamorous from the era, with Hollywood's most popular, visible bombshell's beaming smile radiating through the jewels sprinkled on and around her. The image is signed, titled and dated in ink margin recto and editioned "65/100" in pencil with the photographer's copyright stamp on verso.

Collectors who can't get enough of Monroe can bid on Philippe Halsman's 1955 Marilyn Monroe (Multiple) (est. $1,000-2,000). Measuring 10 by 12-7/8 inches, this image is No. 86 in a run of 250 and has the photographer's copyright stamp on verso.

Other top lots are expected to include, but are not limited to:

· Michael Rovner's 1991 Outside #16 Dye Coupler: est. $4,000-6,000

· Michael Rovner's 1991 Outside #2 Dye Coupler: est. $4,000-6,000

· Jacques Henri Charles au Lartigue's A Portfolio of Photographs: est. $3,000-5,000

· Bruce Davidson's 1965 Welsh Miners: est. $3,000-5,000

· Toshio Shibata's 1996 Grand Coulee Dam: est. $3,000-5,000