As a war correspondent and photographer for Vogue, model-turned-photographer Lee Miller sat at the epicentre of a number of epochal events. From the liberation of Paris and the battle of Saint-Malo to the liberation of both the Dachau and Buchenwald concentration camps, Miller's photographs serve as pieces of history. And now you have the chance to see her works in the flesh.
Officially opening on November 4, Surrealist Lee Miller will be showing at the Heide Museum of Modern Art. Curated by Miller’s son Anthony Penrose, the exhibition will feature 100 works – including the iconic Nude Bent Forward – that span portraiture, Surrealist photography, landscape, architecture and her coverage of the horrors of the Second World War.
A Surrealist before the movement had a name, Lee Miller defied the expectations placed on her as a woman and an artist, living a life as unconventional as her work. Although she was never an 'official' member of the Surrealists, her circle still included the likes of Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst, Dora Maar and Man Ray (to whom she was a protégé and later a lover).
Through the photographs on display, audiences will encounter Miller’s sense of the Surrealist notions of incongruity, dreamlike imagery, dark humour and juxtaposition. The exhibition will provide a rare chance for Australian audiences to experience the extraordinary oeuvre of the artist through a survey of photographs that traverse her life and career.
'Surrealist Lee Miller' will be on at the Heide from November 4 until February 25, 2024. For more information and to book tickets visit the website here.
