4214 - Miller, Lee

Miller, Lee Jean Cocteau, Palais Royal, Paris. 1944. Vintage gelatin silver print, hinge-mounted in a mat. 16 x 15.2 cm. Publisher’s copyright stamp, date stamp, annotations in pencil, and a typed press text label on the reverse. The American photographer Lee Miller began her career as a fashion model in 1920s New York before moving to Paris, where she established herself as a fashion and fine-art photographer. During World War II, she worked as a war correspondent for Vogue, documenting the London Blitz, the liberation of Paris, and the concentration camps at Buchenwald and Dachau. Once known primarily as Man Ray’s muse and collaborator, Miller later gained recognition for her own artistic and documentary achievements, thanks in part to her son’s efforts to preserve and promote her work. In this portrait, she captures the French writer and artist Jean Cocteau in his Paris apartment during the final years of the war. – Slightly buckled, with a few creases in the upper and lower areas; otherwise, a fine tonal print in very good condition.