Lee Miller Retrospective at Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris Traces Her Journey from Surrealism to War Photography

The Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris is hosting a major retrospective of Lee Miller (1907-1977), the American photographer who transitioned from a sought-after model and surrealist collaborator to a war correspondent. The exhibition, adapted from a Tate Britain show, features over 200 works across eleven chronological sections. It opens with a clip from Jean Cocteau's 1932 film Le Sang d'un poète, highlighting Miller's striking modernity. Portraits by Edward Steichen and George Hoyningen-Huene document her early career as a model, while her partnership with Man Ray in Paris is explored through shared techniques like solarization. The show includes her fashion photography for Vogue, her travels from New York to the Middle East, and a dedicated room for her harrowing images from Buchenwald and Dachau concentration camps. Later works capture artist friends like Picasso, Noguchi, Ernst, Tanning, and Miró before Miller abandoned photography for cooking. The retrospective runs until August 2, 2026.