July 31, 2002

12:24 PM

The Woman in Hitler's Bathtub(heres the story) was none other than Lee Miller, free spirit, enchantress, Vogue model and renowned photographer. She was at the center of the Surrealist community, a lover of Man Ray, a subject of Picasso paintings, a muse to Cocteau, a friend to Agar and Ernst and Duchamp and Miro and, later, wife of the collector and critic Roland Penrose. Overall, a fascinating woman.
posted by vacapinta (13 comments total)

You're my new MetaFilter crush, vacapinta. Brilliant post.
posted by MrBaliHai at 12:39 PM on July 31, 2002

Wow, what a fabulous post!! Thank you, vacapinta!
posted by mosspink at 12:42 PM on July 31, 2002

Fascinating. I only knew of Miller in her capacity as the subject of several of Picasso's paintings, and I had no idea her work was as equally impressive and important (artistically as well as historically) as Pablo's portraits of her. That first essay is a bit of a rough go in spots due to the linguistic knots of academic-speak, but still illuminates her history sufficiently for those of us that are ignorant of it.

Thanks, vacapinta...
posted by evanizer at 12:52 PM on July 31, 2002

Lee Miller was also the first real person to appear in a print ad for feminine hygiene products.
posted by Oriole Adams at 12:52 PM on July 31, 2002

Probably mentioned in at least a couple of those links, but there's a good biography written by her son, titled "The Lives of Lee Miller."

"Book Description
Lee Miller: 1927: New York. Classically beautiful, she is discovered by Cond Nast and immortalized by Steichen, Hoyningen-Huene, Horst, and other famous photographers. Lee Miller: 1929: Paris. Protg and lover of Man Ray, she invents with him the solarization technique of photography and develops into a brilliant Surrealist photographer. Lee Miller: 1939-45: Europe. She becomes a U.S. war correspondent and covers the liberation of Paris. Her photographs of the Dachau concentration camp shock the world. These are but three of the many lives of Lee Miller, intimately recorded here by her son, Antony Penrose, whose years of work on her photographic archives have unearthed a rich selection of her finest work, including portraits of her friends Picasso, Braque, Ernst, luard, and Mir. To these are added many other photos that complement Penrose's highly readable biography of this uniquely talented artist."
posted by Kato at 1:00 PM on July 31, 2002

great link. i love the story, the art...good job!
posted by centrs at 1:16 PM on July 31, 2002

Great post. Thank you.
posted by interrobang at 1:35 PM on July 31, 2002

Thanks. Great links.
posted by ColdChef at 1:45 PM on July 31, 2002

...it represents a truth that it consciously disguises, a truth enacted through a ritual which the photograph records...

Could somebody fluent in art speak please translate that? thanks.
posted by mrhappy at 2:32 PM on July 31, 2002

mrhappy: it's just artbabble. Historians, critics, and museum curators just love to write inpenetrable and ultimately meaningless prose like that to describe art. Personally, I think it's a sophisticated method of locking the proles out of the art scene and keeping it exclusive and clubby.
posted by MrBaliHai at 4:11 PM on July 31, 2002

...it represents a truth that it consciously disguises, a truth enacted through a ritual which the photograph records...

Could somebody fluent in art speak please translate that? thanks.

Translation: "It's fucking creepy and amazing."

Academics try to obfuscate anything that is in danger of being interesting.
posted by evanizer at 4:49 PM on July 31, 2002

How lovely and fascinating she was - her beauty transcends the decades. Great link, vacapinta!
posted by Lynsey at 7:48 PM on July 31, 2002

Great stuff. Tremendous link. Thanks, vacapinta!
posted by Slithy_Tove at 10:32 PM on July 31, 2002