Page 22 - The MoMA/ Guggenheim issue of World of Art magazine (2003)

THe GeTTY surreaLisT Muse

LOS ANGeLeS
The many faces of Lee Miller
- model, muse, and artist - are
explored in Surrealist Muse: Lee
Miller, Roland Penrose, and Man
Ray at the Getty from February
25–June 15, 2003. The exhibition
traces Miller’s colorful life and
legacy from 1925 to 1945 through
more than 100 photographs, and
in selected paintings and mixed-
media works. These objects
document the impact of her
talent and powerful personality
on artists with whom she came
into contact, and explore the
influences of these collaborations
on her creative life. The works on
display are from the Getty’s
permanent collection, the Lee
Miller Archive, and the Roland
Penrose Collection. They range
from early pictures of Miller’s
modeling career in New York,
to Surrealist images showing
her influence on Man Ray,
Picasso, and Roland Penrose,
to her astonishing World War ii
photographs documenting the
demise of Hitler and the Third
Reich.
Deborah Gribbon, director
of the J. Paul Getty Museum,
Man ray
american commented, “it is difficult to
1890-1976 think of another woman who has
had such a far-reaching impact
Le Logis de l’Artiste (The Artist’s House)
c. 1931 on a group of artists and their
oil on canvas work. We see Miller’s image
lent by a. and r. Penrose and influence as interpreted by
© 2002 man ray trust others, and then see the source
artists rights society (ars) ny
adagP, Paris of that power in her own creative
vision. Miller’s legacy is all the
more compelling because she
made her presence felt at a time
when women were still struggling
for equal rights. She helped pave
the way, leaving her indelible
mark on a world soon to be
altered by war.”

20 WORLD of ART