#farleyshouse

[faithfamilyfilms]

In 1938 Lee Miller travelled round the Balkans with British surrealist artist Roland Penrose. His photos and poems from the trip were made into a book (The Road is Wider than Long) and also form one of the exhibits at Farleys House, the home they set up together after WW2 which their son later made into a museum for their lives, work, and art collection. I'd long wanted to visit so it was great to find it was only a day trip from my new UK home. The museum/gallery is a strange mixture, but to me gave a representative snapshot of Lee's strangely mixed life and the surrealism which ran through it. To quote from Roland's 1938 book (dedicated to Lee): "The road is wider than long trees are thicker than tall wells reach to the clouds their blood is more solid than their bones" 🌳 It was a post by @planetmanny that encouraged me to finally make the trip and it is well worth the visit. The house is still run by the family and one of their great granddaughters was my tour guide. If you're not nearby then don't come without PRE BOOKING A HOUSE TOUR; I'd have been a little dissapointed I think to have travelled only to see the garden and gallery, but the tour made me very glad I'd made the trip. . . . . . . . #farleyshouseandgallery #farleyshouse #leemiller #leemillerarchives #leemillerphotography #leemillerphotographer #rolandpenrose #rolandpenrosecollection #manray #picasso #jeancocteau #thebloodofapoet #surrealism #surrealist #surrealart #surrealistart #surrealistartist #surrealistartists #dachau #hitler #voguemagazine @farleyshg #theroadiswiderthanlong (at Farleys House & Gallery, Home of Surrealists Lee Miller & Roland Penrose) https://www.instagram.com/p/CU-J5Dpsbh8/?utm_medium=tumblr

[faithfamilyfilms]

Ever since I saw Lee Miller playing a living statue in Cocteau's 'The Blood of a Poet' (1932, her only film appearance) I have been fascinated by her amazingly eclectic life. After being  a US Vogue model she became a photographer in Paris and partnered Man Ray in the surrealist art scene there. By the early 40s she was in the UK (via a studio in the US and a marriage in Egypt) and after a spell as a fashion photographer on UK Vogue became a war correspondant. She followed the Allies into Germany, taking harrowing pictures of Dachau and famously being photographed herself in Hitler's bath. Eventually back in the Uk she battled her PTSD by becoming a renowned cook and set up home with British surrealist artist Roland Penrose. I'm currently reading her biography 'Lee Miller: On Both Sides of the Camera' by Carolyn Burke, which is an enthralling account of Lee's amazing life. This is my 200th post 🙂 . . . . . . . . . #farleyshouseandgallery #farleyshouse #leemiller #leemillerarchives #leemillerphotography #leemillerphotographer #rolandpenrose #rolandpenrosecollection #manray #picasso #jeancocteau #thebloodofapoet #surrealism #surrealist #surrealart #surrealistart #surrealistartist #surrealistartists #dachau #hitler #voguemagazine @farleyshg #LeeMillerOnBothSidesoftheCamera #carolynburke #leemillerbiography https://www.instagram.com/p/CUXDVZ3sBFT/?utm_medium=tumblr