The major photography exhibit, Happy Birthday Marilyn, is now on display at the Andrew Weiss Gallery in Beverly Hills and Allie is Wired attended the private opening reception last night.

In celebration of Marilyn Monroe’s 85th birthday, the gallery has brought together an array of photographs, spanning from 1945 to her last known photograph in 1962, that captures the dramatic transition of an aspiring model into one of world’s most iconic women.

In addition, the Gallery partnered with the Marilyn Remembered fan club to display personalized birthday wishes and messages written by her fans from around the world.

The most exciting of the photographs are from the personal collection of George Barris, the last photographer to take pictures of Marilyn Monroe before she died.

Among these are ten never-before-seen photographs!

Barris, author of the book Marilyn: Her Life in Her Own Words, made a personal appearance at the private reception last night to share his experience of Marilyn.

Below is one of the ten never-before-seen photos of Marilyn Monroe from the Seven Year Itch series (1954) and one of the last photographs of 36 year old Marilyn Monroe on Santa Monica beach a few weeks before her untimely death (1962), both taken by George Barris:

Barris’s photographs and other Marilyn Monroe photos by Bill Carroll, Laszlo Willinger, Bert Stern, Milton Greene and Tom Kelley will be on exhibit at the Andrew Weiss Gallery until August 13, 2011. Andrew Weiss Gallery, 179 South Beverly Drive Beverly Hills, California 90212