Lot Essay
By the late 1920s, Lee Miller was already recognised as a stunning beauty, modeling frequently and being photographed by Steichen, Hoyningen-Huene and Horst. However, it was not until 1929, when she began her work as the pupil and assistant of Man Ray in Paris, that she concentrated on the pursuit of becoming a photographer. She quickly absorbed the Surrealist influences around her, producing early on, many strikingly fresh works. Working and living with Man Ray for nearly three years, she shared his studio, collaborating on many professional assignments as well as modeling for him. Together Man Ray and Miller rediscovered solarization, a method first used by Stieglitz, in which during the development process of a negative, it is quickly exposed to light, producing an image with partially reversed tones. This technique was used very successfully by both in their work. Jane Livingston asserts, "Miller's best photographs from this period often seem psychologically neutral in comparison to other Surrealist photographs, and are oddly humble in subject. Instead of affronting us, she would seem to want to look at the marginal, or the apparently inconsequential, and make these things evocative." (Lee Miller: Photographer, p. 31.) The print offered here like other nudes from this early period in Paris helps to define Miller's individual aesthetic within the French Surrealist movement.
Lee Miller works available on the market are considered rare, as the majority of her prints are retained by the Lee Miller Archives.
Lee Miller works available on the market are considered rare, as the majority of her prints are retained by the Lee Miller Archives.