Research Lee Miller and you’ll find a list of descriptors that describe his life of reinvention: model, Surrealist artist, fashion photographer, war correspondent, gourmet chef. They had many talents and creative interests, but often the word at the top of the list is “muse.”

Even though it makes him uncomfortable, it is impossible to deny the accuracy of this term. besides being one artist in his own rightLee has been an inspiration to many men throughout her life, starting with her father, an amateur photographer who traumatized her by taking nude photographs of her as a teenager; To Edward Steichen and the other fashion masters who photographed her for Vogue magazine; To the Surrealist artist Man Ray, whose brief affair with her gave him artistic inspiration bordering on obsession, and who would use parts of her body (his eyes, throat, lips) in his work for the next 40 years.

I first met Lee through his complex collaboration with Man Ray, documented in the exhibition “Man Ray and Lee Miller” at the Peabody Essex Museum in 2011: Partners of Surrealism.” I had never heard of him before going to the exhibition, and I will never forget the first time I encountered his works.

Like Man Ray before me, I became obsessed – there’s no other word for it – with him. As I walked through the exhibition rooms, I was amazed by Lee’s talent, daring, and incredible spirit. This was a woman who moved to Paris alone in 1929, at the age of 22, to reinvent herself as an artist. She was already a successful model, but she hated it and came to Paris determined, as she put it, “not to take pictures, but to take pictures.” He received a letter of introduction to Man Ray, then an extremely successful artist, and boldly knocked on his door, asking to become his student. He was under her spell; Which man wasn’t like that? – and hired him as his assistant; It was an arrangement that quickly led them into a volatile professional, artistic and romantic relationship. During his years with Man Ray, Lee learned techniques that he would use first in his portrait studio and later as a war correspondent on the battlefields of World War II.

I hadn’t even finished the entire exhibition before I found myself wondering why no one had written a novel about this incredible woman. When I got home that afternoon, I went online and bought a biography about him, which led to years of research and writing; My novel based on the life of Lee Miller. I felt a fierce desire to elevate her above the men who had looked after her all her life. to explain he The story in a way that gives it the impact it rightfully deserves.

I felt a fierce desire to elevate her above the men who had looked after her all her life.

While writing my novel, one work in the exhibition served as a touchstone for me: a piece of paper from Man Ray’s diary on which he had scribbled his name dozens of times. Elizabeth Elizabeth Lee Lee Lee Elizabeth Elizabeth. He was almost 40 when they met, 17 years her senior and at the peak of his powers, but he was still so fascinated by her that he became the romantic doodles of a schoolboy, infatuated to the point of obsession.

I was very curious about what it might feel like to have that kind of power – a power that, yes, comes from her beauty and the objectifying pleasure men get from looking at her, but is wielded extraordinarily by Lee. With that, she got what she wanted from a man like Man Ray – and then used what she learned from him, and the confidence her power gave her, to insist that Vogue make her its first war correspondent. They let him go to the front lines and go to places like Dachau and Hitler’s apartment in Munich, where he did the best work of his career. It’s one thing to be beautiful and submit to the male gaze; It’s one thing to understand that beauty is a currency that can be used to get what one wants; in a time when what one wants runs counter to what women are allowed to have.

There’s a movie about Lee this month. Kate Winslet starringand i watched something recently report on “Good Morning America” with Winslet. Just like my novel, the film took years to make; is a labor of love spearheaded almost entirely by Winslet, who invested her time, money, and considerable star power into the film’s production. His obsession (same word again) with Lee was so evident in the interview that Robin Roberts commented on it, saying “your passion is obvious.”

As Winslet responded, I recognized myself in her (hey, Kate, you superstar, I see you!) and realized that she was to both of us what Lee Miller was to Man and every man before him. : our muse. I can’t speak for Winslet, but I know what I was hoping for; Our fascination with Lee centers her—as an artist, as a woman—and gives her back some of the power she has given other artists.

Thirteen years after I first saw that exhibition, with my novel already finished and published, I admire Lee as much as ever. It is still a touchstone for me and probably always will be; An example of how to live a full and fearless life. I still have a print of the self-portrait she did with Man Ray hanging on my office wall. Compare this portrait with photographs taken by Man Ray at the time; The contrast between how she sees herself and how men see her is striking. There is a total soft focus and abandon in his photographs; his has a Greek statue; his body is as strong as marble, sparkling as if lit from within.

While artists like Man Ray slice and dice her body into objects—lips, breasts, eyes—my hope is that being the muse of the female gaze allows the full picture of the incredible Lee Miller to emerge. I hope Lee feels honored that women are making art from both her life story and her artistic legacy; art tries to understand it rather than just looking at it. In this way, his passion, talent and courage continue to inspire and inspire.

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