Iconic prints could sell for £400,000

Christie's is to oust the Old Masters in favour of some distinctly modern icons, including James Dean, Muhammad Ali, Grace Kelly and Marilyn Monroe.

A 148-strong collection of rare photographic prints goes on show at the St James's auction house tomorrow before being sold next week for an estimated £400,000.

New York gallery owner James Danziger amassed the collection over the last three decades while working for Vanity Fair and the Sunday Times magazines.

It includes one of Ali taken in 1960 by photographer Flip Schulke after the boxer persuaded him that he was secretly training underwater.

In fact, it was a ruse by the boxer to get his picture in Life magazine - and it succeeded. The print is expected to sell for £1,000-£1,500.

The atmospheric photograph of Dean - taken in New York's Times Square in 1955, just as Rebel Without A Cause was released and only months before his death - is expected to attract bids of between £2,000 and £3,000. The picture of Kelly by Howell Conant shows the actress in a particularly regal pose - not surprisingly, since it was taken shortly after her "fairytale" marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco. It is expected to make between £800 and £1,200.

The Monroe picture - one of the last taken of her - was captured during an official photo-shoot when the photographer left the studio and the actress alone with his young assistant, Leif-Erik Nygards. Monroe whipped off the sheet in which she was draped and allowed Nygards to photograph her naked.

Many of the images have been seen repeatedly in magazines but some are rare limited-edition prints.

Danziger said: "I always tried to acquire prints of images that most resonated with me from the entire history of the medium. Each image, whether from the 19th century or contemporary, had to have a quality that spoke to both my eye and heart."