LEE MILLER – Friends at Farleys
23 March - 30 November 2024

Location: Gallery 5, first floor

Image credit: Picasso by the signpost, 1950 © Lee Miller Archives, England, 2024. All rights reserved.

Lee Miller (1907 – 1977) is one of the most important and revered photographers of the 20^th century. Her varied career began in the 1920s as a fashion model in her native New York, but by the end of the decade she preferred to work behind the camera. She was part of the Surrealist avant-garde in 1930s Paris, then an official correspondent for the U.S. Army during World War II.

In 1949 Miller and her husband, the Surrealist artist Roland Penrose, bought Farleys, a farmhouse in Chiddingly in the East Sussex countryside, where they raised their son Antony and entertained their wide circle of creative friends, including Picasso.

In this exhibition, Miller’s warm and witty photos of the 1950s capture the convivial atmosphere of Farleys House and its grounds. At its heart is a selection of tongue-in-cheek portraits Miller took for an article called Working Guests, published in British Vogue’s July 1953 edition, where she has apparently set visitors mundane household tasks.

The photos have been kindly loaned from the Lee Miller Archives based at Farleys House as part of their 75^th anniversary celebrations.

Scan the QR to view all Lee Miller activites around the country or visit the Farley House and Gallery website.

Virtual Tour