Legendary photographer Bert Stern 1929-2013

Left: Photographer Bert Stern attends the Dior and Weinstein Company's opening of "Picturing Marilyn," at Milk Gallery in New York City, Nov. 9, 2011.

Stern, a commercial photographer who created iconic images for print and advertising, and who is best known for his photographs of Marilyn Monroe in what became known as "The Last Sitting," died at his home in New York City on Wednesday, June 26, 2013. He was 83.

Stern.B_ElizabethTaylor.RichardBurton.1.jpg — Bert Stern/Courtesy Staley-Wise Gallery New York

Born in Brooklyn, Bert Stern was among a generation of photographers (including Irving Penn and Richard Avedon) known for their uncluttered and alluring images.

"He's not quite as well known but fits into that group for revolutionizing the way celebrities were photographed," said Jessica Johnson, assistant curator at the George Eastman House.

Left: Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Ischia, Italy, photographed by Bert Stern in 1962.

Bert Stern launched his commercial advertising career with a campaign for Smirnoff Vodka that featured a V-shaped glass of vodka set in front of an Egyptian pyramid.

Stern.B_Rooftop.jpg — Bert Stern/Courtesy Staley-Wise Gallery New York

Rooftops, VOGUE, 1961.

Bert Stern/Courtesy Staley-Wise Gallery New York

Sue Lyons as "Lolita" on the set of the Stanley Kubrick film, 1962.

Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra, photographed by Bert Stern for Vogue magazine, 1962.

"He'll be remembered as someone who loved women and loved taking pictures and putting things he felt strongly about in the camera," said Stern's wife, filmmaker Shannah Laumeister. "His images will live forever and wow generations to come."

Left: Marcello Mastroianni, photographed by Bert Stern for Vogue, 1963.

"He was an enormously innovative photographer, both as a commercial photographer and a photographer of celebrities and fashion models. And one of the great people in his field," said Bruce Barnes, director of the George Eastman House in Rochester, N.Y., which this summer is presenting Stern's only documentary film, "Jazz on a Summer's Day," made in the late 1950s about the Newport Jazz Festival.

Stern.B_SophiaLoren.Smoking.2.jpg — Bert Stern/Courtesy Staley-Wise Gallery New York

Sophia Loren, Pisa, 1962.

An unpublished photograph of Audrey Hepburn by Bert Stern, 1964.

Stern.B_Marilyn.BlueRose.Scar.LoRes.jpg — Bert Stern/Courtesy Staley-Wise Gallery New York

"Marilyn Monroe with Blue Roses": Photograph by Bert Stern, from "The Last Sitting," 1962.

Stern shot thousands of pictures of Monroe at the Bel Air Hotel in Los Angeles in 1962 for Vogue magazine just weeks before her drug overdose death. They included nude and semi-nude images.

The Monroe images "go beyond the photograph and become a work of art," Shannah Laumeister said of the "Last Sitting" series.

Bert Stern's "Last Sitting" photographs courtesy of Freeman's Auctioneers & Appraisers, Philadelphia
"Marilyn Monroe: The Last Sitting" by Bert Stern - Photographs to be auctioned Sept. 10, 2013 by Freeman's

Stern.B_marilynmonroe_BelAirHotel.jpg — Bert Stern/Courtesy Staley-Wise Gallery New York

Left: Bert Stern and Marilyn Monroe, from "The Last Sitting," 1962.

In "Bert Stern: Original Madman," a documentary Laumeister made of the photographer, Stern said, "It was a one-time-in-a-lifetime experience to have Marilyn Monroe in a hotel room, even though it was turned into a studio."

SternB_MarilynDiamondsPearls.2.jpg — Bert Stern/Courtesy Staley-Wise Gallery New York

Left: Marilyn Monroe, from "The Last Sitting", 1962.

The 2,500 images, including ones Monroe rejected, were published in a 1982 book titled "The Last Sitting," and a second book, "Marilyn Monroe: The Complete Last Sitting," that came out in 2000.

Marilyn Monroe, from "The Last Sitting," 1962.

Bert Stern's "Last Sitting" photographs courtesy of Freeman's Auctioneers & Appraisers, Philadelphia
"Marilyn Monroe: The Last Sitting" by Bert Stern - Photographs to be auctioned Sept. 10, 2013 by Freeman's

One of the 2,500 images taken by photographer Bert Stern of Marilyn Monroe in her "Last Sitting," just weeks before her death in 1962.

Bert Stern's "Last Sitting" photographs courtesy of Freeman's Auctioneers & Appraisers, Philadelphia
"Marilyn Monroe: The Last Sitting" by Bert Stern - Photographs to be auctioned Sept. 10, 2013 by Freeman's

Stern.B_AudreyHepburn.6.jpg — Bert Stern/Courtesy Staley-Wise Gallery New York

Audrey Hepburn, Paris, 1967,

Stern.B_Madonna.jpg — Bert Stern/Courtesy Staley-Wise Gallery New York

Madonna, New York, 1987.

One of the 2,500 images taken by photographer Bert Stern of Marilyn Monroe in her "Last Sitting," just weeks before her death in 1962.

For more info:
Bert Stern's "Last Sitting" photographs courtesy of Freeman's Auctioneers & Appraisers, Philadelphia
"Marilyn Monroe: The Last Sitting" by Bert Stern - Photographs to be auctioned Sept. 10, 2013 by Freeman's
Staley Wise Gallery, New York
"Bert Stern: Original Mad Man" (Films Transit International)
Art Directors Club Hall of Fame: Bert Stern

The Associated Press contributed to this report.