London show of Lee Miller photographs is fundraising to save thousands of her negatives

"The Lee Miller Archives, which were established after the American photographer's vast collection of photographs and writings were discovered in the attic of her Sussex home following her death in 1977, is raising money to provide urgent conservation of thousands of her negatives, some of which are nearly 100 years old. Proceeds from the sales of works on show at Lyndsey Ingram gallery in London will ensure that as many as 60,000 negatives and prints-some of them in a perilous state-will be frozen and preserved. Miller's archive is stored at Farleys House in East Sussex where she lived with her husband, the art historian and Institute of Contemporary Arts co-founder Roland Penrose, from 1949 until her death."

"The exhibition, Lee Miller: Performance of a Lifetime (23 January-25 February), examines the pivotal role of theatre, staging and performance throughout Miller's practice-from her arrival in Paris in 1930 and her involvement with the Surrealists to the final years of the Second World War, during which time Miller worked as a photojournalist. Prices start at £3,800; several corresponding prints are also currently on show at Tate Britain as part of a survey show. Ami Bouhassane, Miller's granddaughter who runs the Grade II-listed Farley's House together with her father Antony Penrose, tells The Art Newspaper how Miller's trove was discovered in the attic by chance almost 50 years ago. "Just after I was born, my mum was looking for pictures of my dad as a baby and she went up into the attic, but instead of coming back down with baby pictures she found the contact sheets and manuscripts from the Siege of Saint-Malo." It was the first combat battle that Miller covered as one of the first female war correspondents, covering the conflict for Vogue and Life magazines."

The Lee Miller Archives is fundraising to conserve thousands of fragile negatives and prints, some nearly 100 years old. Proceeds from sales at Lyndsey Ingram gallery in London will fund freezing and preservation of as many as 60,000 items. The archive is housed at Farleys House in East Sussex, where Miller lived with Roland Penrose from 1949 until her death. An exhibition, Lee Miller: Performance of a Lifetime (23 January-25 February), highlights theatre, staging and performance across Miller's career, from 1930 Paris and Surrealism to wartime photojournalism. Several prints also appear at Tate Britain; prices at the gallery start at £3,800.

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