Lee Miller: A Surrealist in Wartime Britain — and an Unexpected Thread to Swansea
Lee Miller: A Surrealist in Wartime Britain — and an Unexpected Thread to Swansea Lee Miller You would scarcely associate Lee Miller with Swansea, yet the city’s literary world — and one of its most famous sons — crossed her path in ways both unexpected and historically resonant. Before tracing that connection, it is worth establishing precisely who Lee Miller was, and why her life stands among the most extraordinary of the twentieth century. Born Elizabeth “Lee” Miller in April 1907 in New York, she was the daughter of Theodore Miller , of German descent, and Florence MacDonald , whose ancestry lay in Scotland and Ireland. From this mixed heritage emerged a woman of striking presence and formidable intellect. A Muse, a Maker, and a Modernist Miller first came to prominence in the 1920s as a fashion model in New York, celebrated for her poise and sculptural beauty. Her trajectory changed dramatically when she moved to Paris , entering the orbit of the Surrealists. There she became b...
