BOOK CLUB vol. 7: the home of Surrealist photographer Lee Miller and her artist husband, Sir Roland Penrose

Diaries, portraits, and...the eroticism of ponytails.

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It’s no shock for me to write that I am a tad bit obsessed with the portrait/fashion/war/Surrealist photographer Lee Miller. I will make any excuse to write about her (like this occasion or this orrrr maybe here and also this interview), and especially this year as the Surrealism movement is celebrating its 100th anniversary. As I’m in the depths of creating a more elaborate Substack writing related to this, I began poking around for images of her still-intact home in England—the Farleys House—a place she shared with her husband, artist Sir Roland Penrose. It’s preserved as a house museum that you can visit!!!! My absolute favorite type of situation.

A collection of Lee’s photographs, including the internationally famous self-portrait of her in Hitler’s bathroom after his suicide (bottom center).

“Lee Miller; Roland Penrose” by Cecil Beaton, mid-1960s via National Portrait Gallery

Until you’re able to make it to rural southern England to see this Surrealism-tinged Miller-Penrose residence, here are some lovely pictures of the interiors taken by Tony Tree, and my rundown of some of their book collection.

A sampling of books from Lee and Sir Roland’s collection:

• Self-Portrait with Friends: The Selected Diaries of Cecil Beaton edited by Richard Buckle

• Cairo: Biography of a City by James Aldridge

• Paris Journal, 1944-1965 by Janet Flanner

• Flash in Modern Photography by William Mortensen

• Alexander’s Path from Caria to Cilicia by Freya Starke

• Poetica Erotica by T.R. Smith

• Droll Stories by Honore de Balzac

• Principles of Photographic Reproduction by Carl Miller

• Robert Capa: A Biography by Richard Whelan

Some books I would add to their bookshelves:

1. The Artist in His Studio by Alexander Liberman

2. Man Ray: The Paris Years by Michael R. Taylor — Man Ray was a friend, collaborator, roommate, and lover of Lee for many years. “His love for her nearly drove him to madness—and also inspired some of his most well-known work,” says NPR.

3. Collected Stories of Colette

4. Portrait of an Unknown Lady by Maria Gainza — A book is about an art forger who is able to use her artistic talents while shapeshifting through the world. This behavior reminds me of Lee in the sense that Lee was able to transform her artistic talents from the world of modeling to fashion photographer to becoming an undercover war correspondent.

5. The Long Run: A Creative Inquiry by Stacey D'Erasmo

6. Corita Kent: Ordinary Things Will Be Signs for Us — A culmination of various snapshots by artist, educator, and nun, Sister Corita Kent. She was a driving force in art and political/social liberation, and I’d like to imagine her and Lee being on the same wavelength.

I’m not sure how authentic the staging of her living areas are. It’s hard for me to believe that she left her desk posed like this. That being said, there’s a very tiny amount of literature being displayed here. The most prominent? THE HOLY BIBLE. For some reason, I am shocked by this! Do Surrealists believe in God?

I’m not including these books on the list because they look slightly curated and most of them seem published after Lee’s death. Important to note: so many Max Ernst books, and of course, ones about Lee herself!

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Related Notes:

• Over the weekend I visited Les Abattoirs in the city I live in, Toulouse, France, to see a tiny Surrealism exhibition. There were about a dozen eye-catching black-and-white murals situated along pink walls. The main exhibition image focused on (the below) ponytail-as-shirt-tie poster from a 1959 exhibition. “The ponytail as eroticism.” By chance I was sporting: a black and white dress, pale pink shoes, and a ponytail. Proud of myself for those accidents!

  

  

  

In the gift shop, I purchased this book about modernist textile artist, Otti Berger, who I knew zero about! How did she escape my view for so long?? Her successful career in textiles and education ended far too soon, as she was a victim of the Holocaust. I can’t stop thinking about what she would have gone on to do if she wasn’t murdered. What I like most about the book is author Judith Raum’s investigation of the inner workings of the textile weavings, as she examined Berger artworks around the world alongside a textile expert. There’s also a great sense that she was helping museums and private collections attribute more accurately which unknown works actually belonged to the oeuvre of Berger. How incredible. The warp and the weft can tell so many stories when you begin to look closely.

A note to self (and for you!) that I need to finish watching this lecture by Judith Raum about mesmerizing Otti and this publication.

• Lee Miller’s house, Farleys, is hosting a Surrealism picnic in a couple of weeks. Why do I already wish that Gohar World was setting the tables in the spirit à la Méret Oppenheim?

• Pillow Thought
  wrote so enthusiastically about a letter exchanging initiative, Postcrossing, in which you’re given a random address to someone around the globe. “Every time I open my mailbox, I am reminded of our capacity for kindness.” She’s written over 500 letters! I signed up immediately and my first card will be sent to someone in Alaska this week. I bought a few vintage postcards to help send nice words to these strangers, one of which has a Man Ray photograph of Lee Miller’s lips. I can’t wait to get my first card in la poste!

  

  Lips, Man Ray, 1930.

  

  

  Église d'Avers, Van Gogh, 1890; Roy Lichtenstein painting Mural with Blue Brushstroke, 1986; painting from Rio de Janeiro; Arcimboldesca Frances, 1902

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Happy reading!

Kelsey Rose

PS - A number of these books above are linked to Bookshop.org, which is my absolute favorite place to buy books online. Bookshop.org works to connect readers with independent booksellers and stores all over the world. Since 2020, they’ve raised more than $28 million for independent bookstores—which is 28 million times better than supporting Amazon. You can see/shop my Bookshop here! I do get a teeny, tiny commission off of every book sale purchased directly from these links or from my Bookshop store front. I’ll only link books if I honestly believe in their goodness.