The Art Institute of Chicago announces 'Lee Miller: Fearless,' the first comprehensive survey of photographer Lee Miller's work in over 25 years, running from August 29 to December 7, 2026. The exhibition spans Miller's multifaceted career as a fashion model, Surrealist innovator, portraitist, and World War II battlefield correspondent for Vogue, featuring iconic images such as 'Self-Portrait with Headband' (about 1932) and 'Dressed for War' (1942). It is organized in collaboration with Tate Britain and Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, curated by Matthew S. Witkovsky, Hilary Floe, Saskia Flower, and Michal Goldschmidt.
The exhibition matters because it reexamines Miller's singular trajectory—from her early Surrealist experiments and daring portraits of cultural figures like Pablo Picasso and Charlie Chaplin to her harrowing documentation of Buchenwald and Dachau concentration camps—and her later reinvention as a chef and gardener. By gathering major episodes of her career for the first time in decades, 'Lee Miller: Fearless' offers a timely reassessment of a photographer who defied categorization and whose work bridges art, fashion, war reportage, and personal resilience.