Antony Penrose – författare

Described by the Sunday Times as 'a fascinating revelation of an adventurous and protean spirit’, this biography is the inspiration behind the 2024 film Lee, starring Kate Winslet as Lee Miller.Beautiful, bewitching and an exceptionally good photographer, Lee Miller was one of life’s adventurers.She became a Vogue cover girl in 1920s New York before embracing Paris, photography and Surrealism, and then dramatically changed her life yet again, reinventing herself as a war correspondent, notably covering the liberation of Dachau.These are but three of the many lives of Lee Miller, intimately recorded here by her son, Antony Penrose. Featuring a selection of Miller’s finest work, including portraits of her friends Picasso, Tanning and Ernst, Penrose’s tribute to his mother brings to life a uniquely talented woman and the turbulent times in which she lived.

Lee Miller’s work for Vogue from 1941–1945 sets her apart as a photographer and writer of extraordinary ability. The quality of her photography from the period has long been recognized as outstanding, and its full range is shown here, accompanied by her brilliant despatches. Starting with her first report from a field hospital soon after D-Day, the despatches and nearly 160 photographs show war-ravaged cities, buildings and landscapes, but above all they portray the war-resilient people – soldiers, leaders, medics, evacuees, prisoners of war, the wounded, the villains and the heroes. There is the raw edge of combat portrayed at the siege of St Malo and in the bitterly fought Alsace campaign, and the disbelief and outrage Miller describes on witnessing the victims of Dachau. The war’s horror is relieved by the spirit of post-liberation Paris, where she inudulged in frivoluous fashions and recorded memorable conversations with Picasso, Cocteau, Eluard, Aragon and Colette. The book ends with Miller’s first-on-the-scene report giving a sardonic description of HItler’s abandoned house in Munich, and the looting and burning of his alpine fortress at Berchtesgaden, which marked a symbolic end to the war. David E. Scherman, the renowned war photojournalist who shared many of Miller’s assignments, contributes a foreword.

One hundred of the most outstanding photographs taken by photographer, model and Surrealist muse Lee Miller, published in anticipation of the November 2023 release of the film Lee, starring Kate Winslet as Lee Miller Photojournalist, war correspondent, model and Surrealist muse, Lee Miller was one of the most important women photographers of the twentieth century, working in the fields of photojournalism, fashion, portraiture and advertising. This book presents 100 of Miller’s finest works in a single volume. Introduced to photography at an early age, Lee Miller honed her craft in Paris, where she associated with the Surrealists and avant-garde artists including Jean Cocteau and Picasso. Together with Man Ray she accidentally discovered the distinctive technique of solarization to create mesmerizing halo effects. After establishing her own photographic studio in New York, where she became a prominent commercial photographer, she then moved to the Middle East and Europe before becoming the official war photographer for Vogue, a period during which she took many of her most iconic photographs. This evocative book collects Lee Miller’s most famous documentary, fashion, and war works, as well as photographs of Miller, all carefully compiled by her son the photographer Antony Penrose, with a foreword by actress Kate Winslet, who will star as Miller in the film Lee.

Described by the Sunday Times as 'a fascinating revelation of an adventurous and protean spirit’, this biography is the inspiration behind the 2024 film Lee, starring Kate Winslet as Lee Miller.Beautiful, bewitching and an exceptionally good photographer, Lee Miller was one of life’s adventurers.She became a Vogue cover girl in 1920s New York before embracing Paris, photography and Surrealism, and then dramatically changed her life yet again, reinventing herself as a war correspondent, notably covering the liberation of Dachau.These are but three of the many lives of Lee Miller, intimately recorded here by her son, Antony Penrose. Featuring a selection of Miller’s finest work, including portraits of her friends Picasso, Tanning and Ernst, Penrose’s tribute to his mother brings to life a uniquely talented woman and the turbulent times in which she lived.

A short, entertaining text narrated by the young Tony introduces Miró, a quiet, kind and smartly dressed man, who ‘dreamed when he was awake’ and painted wonderfully strange worlds filled with magical animals. The book is beautifully illustrated with some of Miró’s finest works, as well as evocative archive photography by Lee Miller and specially commissioned artworks by children done in the style of Miró. Tony recalls a visit by Miró to his childhood home and a trip to London Zoo, during which Miró asked to see ‘large birds, snakes, and strange creatures of the night’. With its vibrant colours and artworks, this book will inspire and appeal to art fans of any age.

Surrealist before she knew of the movement Lee Miller was ‘caustically brilliant, yet totally loyal, unpretentious, human and intolerant of sham. She was a consummate artist and a consummate clown; at once an upstate New York hick and cosmopolitan grande dame; a cold, soignée fashion model and a hoyden… She was a mechanical ‘tinker’, in the sense that her friend [the artist] Alexander Calder once called himself ‘just a tinker’. She was the nearest thing I knew to a mid-20th century renaissance woman’ described David E. Scherman, LIFE photographer and her very close friend.Lee Miller was one of the most original photographic artists of the 20th century, her Surrealist eye informed everything she did. Her work presents the world in a way that encourages us to view it in a different manner.

Surrealist before she knew of the movement Lee Miller was ‘caustically brilliant, yet totally loyal, unpretentious, human and intolerant of sham. She was a consummate artist and a consummate clown; at once an upstate New York hick and cosmopolitan grande dame; a cold, soignée fashion model and a hoyden… She was a mechanical ‘tinker’, in the sense that her friend [the artist] Alexander Calder once called himself ‘just a tinker’. She was the nearest thing I knew to a mid-20th century renaissance woman’ described David E. Scherman, LIFE photographer and her very close friend.Lee Miller was one of the most original photographic artists of the 20th century, her Surrealist eye informed everything she did. Her work presents the world in a way that encourages us to view it in a different manner.

"Penrose" wrote Andre Breton "est Surrealiste dans l'amitie" and 'The Friendly Surrealist' is an apt description for the man who more than any other nurtured friendships and connections which introduced European Surrealism to the British art world. Roland Penrose embraced the fantasies and rebellions of the Surrealist movement through his friendships with artists such as Picasso, Man Ray, Miro, Ernst and Tàpies. His own works, which often reveal the true emotions behind his relationships with his wives, Valentine Boue and Lee Miller, constitute an important contribution to British Surrealist art.

Painter Roland Penrose and photographer Lee Miller's move to Farleys in Sussex, UK, was not to settle down but to create, entertain, and inspire. In this publication, their son Antony Penrose, recalls the 1950's with a fascinating insight into his parents' lives, as they transformed Farleys from a traditional farmhouse into a hub of art. Farleys with unexpected decoration and surreal living had a wealth of 20th century artists visiting the home. The book is designed to reflect the colours and designs from the colour on the walls to the textiles of the furnishings.

Written by Antony Penrose, son of American feminist icon Lee Miller and British artist Roland Penrose this delightful narrative introduces the fascinating lives of Lee Miller; War Correspondent and Surrealist photographer and her husband Roland Penrose; Surrealist artist and co-founder of the ICA, whilst taking a tour of their extraordinary home in the Sussex countryside. Farleys's exterior has no hint of visual excitements to be discovered. Bright walls & corridors filled with remarkable & eclectic art. The book gives a glimpse into amazing lives of Lee Miller & Roland Penrose. This special anniversary edition, 75 years at Farleys, has new photography and never seen before insights to the house.