Lee Miller

Rene Magritte, Brussels, 1944

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About this artwork

Following time spent on the front-line, Miller stayed on in Europe to document the events after the War. Her accounts were published in British and American Vogue. In November 1944 she spent several days in Brussels where she noted that she found her “favourite modern Belgian painters in good health”. Miller was the first to report on René Magritte’s change in style which occurred in 1943: “he paints now like a streaky Renoir and has a passion for varicoloured naked ladies and mystic bouquets”. This dramatically lit photograph of the painter exhibits Miller’s characteristic use of structures to isolate and frame her subject. Magritte’s face is highlighted against the dark, neutral surface of his coat, which hangs behind him.

Updated before 2020

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  • artist:
    Lee Miller (1907 - 1977) American
  • title:
    Rene Magritte, Brussels, 1944
  • date created:
    1944
  • materials:
    Black and white photograph (posthumous print)
  • measurements:
    Paper size: 38.90 x 29.90 cm; image size: 26.20 x 25.20 cm
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    Purchased with help from the Patrons of the National Galleries of Scotland 2007
  • accession number:
    GMA 4986
  • gallery:
  • subject:
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Lee Miller

Lee Miller