The Home of the Surrealists: Lee Miller, Roland Penrose, and Their Circle at Farley Farm

In its heyday, Farley Farm, the home of American photographer Lee Miller and British artist Roland Penrose in Sussex, southern England, represented one of the most important collections of modern art in Britain, with a list of visitors that reads like a Who's Who of twentieth-century artists - from Pablo Picasso and Max Ernst, Man Ray and Joan Miro, to to Paul Eluard and Henry Moore. In this book, Miller's and Penrose's son, Antony Penrose, opens the door of Farley Farm to allow a rare glimpse inside a remarkable house, boasting a superb art collection and serving for over thirty years as the home of two talented artists at the forefront of the Surrealist movement.
Specially commissioned photographs by Alan MacWeeney are presented alongside photographs by Lee Miller, telling the story of Farley Farm and its inhabitants over thirty-five years. Antony Penrose offers personal anecdotes of the dramas and outrageous surprises that were part of everyday life growing up in an unconventional milieu and enjoying visits from some of the most flamboyant and famous artists of the day. The book also documents the internationally renowned collection of painting and sculpture that Miller and Penrose established in their home - in part composed of artistic mementos of their friends, like the tile in the kitchen by Picasso or the poem on the stairs by Eliard.
Blending great art with original photography and intimate recollection, this book provides a revealing firsthand account of a Surrealist artists' colony and the story of one of the most fascinating collections of modern art ever assembled.