She lives on

“We wanted to show that mosaic can be an interesting art form,” says Kar. The portraits,which range from two to five feet in height,were made by Sicis,a 20-year-old Italian mosaic art brand.

“It was difficult to replicate on mosaic the expressions on Monroe’s face,” says Max Francesconi,who heads Sicis’s architectural service for India. “We had to look at each photograph several times and try to reproduce the mosaic as close as possible to the photograph.”

Although Greene’s subjects included Frank Sinatra,Sophia Loren and Cary Grant among many others he was best known for his Monroe portraits that he took between 1953 and 57. He captured Monroe when she was clowning around backstage,when she wore no makeup and when she travelled with him under the fake name,Zelda Zonk.

“The mosaics are so interesting because they all have a story to tell,” says Kar. The one of Monroe in the ballerina outfit,for example,was taken in 1954. Monroe had arrived for the opening of The Seven Year Itch.

Designer Ann Klein had sent various outfits for Monroe to wear but all of them were too small. “Just hold the dress up against you,” said Greene. The ensuing pictures were termed the “Ballerina Series” and were some of the best ever taken of Monroe.

The Marilyn Monroe Collection at Joss,Kalaghoda, from 6.30 pm today.