Lifestyle // Women's
Seeing Things: Man Ray Lee Miller
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Two versions of the iconic lips. Top: Lee 059, Man Ray (1890-1976), “A l’heure de l’observatoire – les amoureux” c. 1931, color photograph of 1964, after the original oil painting. Bottom: Man Ray (1980-1976), “Untitled (gold lips)” in gold. -
Man Ray (1980-1976), “Lee Miller”, c. 1930, solarized vintage gelatin silver print. -
Man Ray (1980-1976), “Le Logis de l’artiste (The Artist’s Home)”, c. 1931, oil on canvas. -
Man Ray (1980-1976), “Indestructible Object”, originally made in 1928, destroyed Paris 1957, this replica 1959 Metronome with gelatin silver print of Lee Miller’s eye. -
Lee Miller (1907-1977), “Self Portrait”, variant on Lee Miller par Lee Miller, c. 1930, gelatin silver print. -
Lee Miller (1907-1977), “Portrait of Man Ray”, 1931, gelatin silver print. -
Lee Miller (1907-1977) “Tania Ramm and Bell Jar”, variant on Hommage a D.A.F. de Sade, c. 1930, gelatin silver print. -
Lee Miller (1907-1977) “Woman with Hand on Head”, 1931.
One of the most thrilling ways to understand Art is to recognize the ways in which it is generated out of the experience of daily life. While some artists rely on theory as the fuel for their visual expression, others are inspired by the thoughts, feelings and perceptions born from the everyday. The exhibition at San Francisco’s Legion of Honor, Man Ray Lee Miller, tracks the creative relationship between two pioneering Surrealist artists. As lovers and later as friends, the relationship inspired their work and helped shape the history of modern art.
The heart of the exhibition lies in the years between 1929-1932 when the artists lived together in Paris. Prior to this time, Lee Miller had been a successful model in New York. She was beautiful, talented, and intellectually aware. Man Ray was already a formidable force in the Surrealist world, combining painting, sculpture and photography. She began as his apprentice and became his muse and lover. The synergy they experienced together provoked each of them to explore new directions and excel in their individual work. One of their significant innovations was the rediscovery of solarization, a partial chemical reversal in the photographic process that creates unusual outlines around images.
Both artists wanted to electrify the viewer’s eye and mind through their photography. Miller increasingly needed to assert her artistic independence. She explored her feminist leanings, a reaction to earlier years of objectification as a professional model and the chauvinism of her era. Her work became more radical as evidenced in her medical photographs of body parts and women trapped in bell jars and bird cages.
When their intimate relationship fractured, Man Ray was bereft. Love sick and angry, Man Ray funneled his anguish into some of the most remarkable work of his career. Obsessed with Miller, he used her eye to create the classic metronome pieces that represented time and inner vision. He used her mouth for his iconic lip painting that signified her female anatomy, their bodies lying horizontally together, and everything sensuous about her.
The exhibition is an enthralling tapestry of art and life and the passions that fuel them both.
Man Ray/Lee Miller: Partners in Surrealism
July 14 – Oct 14
Photographs, paintings, drawings and manuscripts.
The Legion of Honor comprises the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco along with the DeYoung Museum.
