The New York Cover Girl
The story of Lee’s New York modeling years is a vital pillar supporting the legend. It is an astonishing construct because it presents as fact a story of mythic proportion with essentially no factual basis.
When researching the veracity of matters presented as fact, a good starting point is the maxim “trust your inner ear”. In the story of Harold drowning in front of Lee the “red flag” was the improbability of a young man having cardiac arrest after jumping or falling into a lake on a hot July day. For Picasso, it was the absurdity of him stating that Lee was the first Allied soldier that he had seen, when they were both in the center of a city occupied by Allied forces. Here the “red flag” is the likelihood of Condé Nast pulling Lee from death or injury, her babbling in French, (when she didn’t speak French) and wearing European-style clothes more than two years after her “semester away” in Paris.
According to Antony Penrose:
“One day, crossing the street in New York, she carelessly stepped into the path of an oncoming car. A bystander yanked her back with only inches to spare, and Lee collapsed into his arms. Her rescuer was the new self-made king of magazine publishing, Condé Nast. The fright induce Lee to babble away in French, and this, plus the fact that she was dressed in European-style clothes, must have intrigued in Condé Nast. He befriended her and offered her modeling work on Vogue. She was an instant success and her face appeared immediately on the front cover of the March 1927 Issue, designed by Georges Lepape. The background is the glittering lights of Manhattan and the penetrating determination of her gaze from under the brim of a blue cloche hat counterpoint the sophisticated fripperies of her costume” (1).
The story appears for the first time in Lives and, not surprisingly, it has been repeated by virtually every commentator since 1985.
Following the same “Footprint” Burke says:
Elizabeth would have gone on “circulating around, she told an interviewer later, but for an accident—which itself sounds like fiction or Hollywood fantasy: one day she was “discovered” when she stepped into the path of an oncoming car and was pulled back onto the sidewalk by a well-dressed stranger, into whose arms she collapsed. Her rescuer proved to be Condé Nast, the founder of the publishing empire. Elizabeth happened to be wearing an outfit bought in Paris the year before and in her shock babbled in French. Nast had a closer look, invited her to his office, and asked her to think about working for Vogue.
Elizabeth looked as if she were one of the smart set, someone for whom modistes stitched and matinees were arranged. Her features would suit the March issue, on the new Paris fashions. She would make her first appearance in Vogue on its cover” (2).
Burke then follows with an extensive background of Nast and his womanizing which she takes from Caroline Seebohm’s 1982 book, “Condé Nast” The Man Who Was Vogue. This book was cited by Penrose as his authority for the Nast/Lepape cover girl story although Seebohm herself did not mention Nast or Lepape in reference to Lee. Both authors cite authority that does not exist. Additionally and inexplicably, Burke also cites Ruth Senfel from an October 2, 1932 article on Lee titled, “Everyone Can Pose” even though Senfel does not say anything about Nast or Lepape or even mentions Lee did any modelling for Vogue.
Prior to 1985 there is nothing to support the Condé Nast/Georges Lepape story – “nothing” attains significant importance when there should be “something”.
The Condé Nast story has not been substantiated prior to 1985 by any contemporary third party. This includes members of Lee’s family, friends, the biographers of Condé Nast, Man Ray, Edward Steichen, Frank Crowninshield, her husband Roland Penrose or any of her many lovers including her agent Julien Levy. Although there are many original sources, where there should be confirmation, none can be found.
According to Antony Penrose in Lives, Lee’s career as a model began with her appearance on Vogue’s March, 1927 cover. The claim that Georges Lepape illustrated Lee Miller for the cover of Vogue New York is supported only with a footnote that generally makes reference to “Condé Nast” The Man Who Was Vogue (Caroline Seebohm, 1982). However, the Seebohm biography offers no mention of Lee Miller with regard to the cover of Vogue other than a reference that young women might receive “casting couch” favors. There is no suggestion in the Seebohm biography, or anywhere else for that matter, that Lee Miller was one of these women. It seems odd that Antony Penrose would put his mother on a “casting couch” by drawing a connection between the rescuer who “…befriended her and offered her modelling work in Vogue” and the “casting couch” scenario described by Caroline Seebohm (albeit without Lee on the couch). In sum, the Lives citation to the Seebohm biography of Nast, provides no support for the Nast/Lepape story, although it is the only authority offered.
The pre-1985 material is remarkable, however, because of the glaring absence of a reference to Nast or Lepape and that absence makes the point. Condé Nast was the most important figure in the New York fashion world of the 1920’s and illustrations by the internationally renowned Georges Lepape were a hallmark of Vogue. The story is presented as a factual cornerstone of Lee Miller’s life story, but consider the following:
By correspondence with the New York Vogue archives it has been established that Vogue has no independent authority outside Antony Penrose to support the Nast/Lepape claim (3).
Carolyn Burke had access to Theodore Miller’s (Lee’s father) diary, but she makes no reference to a diary entry from Theodore regarding a “damsel in distress” encounter with Nast nor to a cover girl illustration by Lepape.
The March 15th, 1927, Lepape illustration is striking and was even chosen as the cover for Lepape’s biography, From the Ballet Russes to Vogue (1984) by his son Claude Lepape and Thierey Defert. However, not only is there no mention of Lee Miller being the Lepape cover model in the biography, there are 1936 notes of Lepape quoted in the book where he discusses Lee as a Vogue fashion photographer in the 1930’s, but still does not mention her as a model for his illustration (4).
Aside from the absence of original source evidence, the idea that Lee was the model for the March 1927 cover of Vogue is “red flagged” within the four corners of the illustration itself. While the hair and eye coloring in the image are blonde and blue, facial features that resemble Lee cannot be seen. For example, the almond shape of the eyes in the image and cheek structure are different, the lips and jaw line are also distinctly different from Lee’s, and the thick short neck in the illustration, does not resemble Lee’s thin and elongated neck. However, this is not a surprise because Lepape did not use models for his Vogue covers in 1927. A quick online search of Lepape Vogue covers reveals imaginative, contorted images of women flying, leaping across clouds and dangling from curtains like trapeze artists. The features of the women are angular, exaggerated to the point of being quasi-realistic. In Lepape’s own words, when referring to his Vogue work, his son, Claude writes:
“In another chapter ‘Deux categories de dessins de mode’, he [Lepape] distinguishes two different categories of fashion drawing.
First: ‘commercial drawing, practical, very factual, no interpretation or stylization that would distort the original. Awareness of pattern-design. Model, dummy, elementary awareness of cut. Type of drawing for mass-circulation magazines with a wide readership, for periodicals and daily papers.’
Second: ‘A. Realistic drawing, but very stylized, bold and sumptuous, reflecting a life of elegance and luxury in an appropriate setting. B. Free drawing also very stylized but in which fantasy, imagination and composition are tied in with the luxury and elegance of a novel and picturesque setting. Here the artist is no longer interpreting a model, he is creating and inventing everything.
Works in this second category (A and B) are above all suited to fashion periodicals of the Vogue type’” [Emphasis added] (4).
The Lepape notes of November, 1936 describe perfectly the March, 1927 Vogue cover. Interestingly, Lepape had a keen eye for detail. For example, the arrow in the cloche hat was a symbol in the 1920’s that a woman was single but in a relationship. The knot in the pearl necklace was a symbol of being in a serious relationship, possibly engaged. The tilt in the hat is indicative of the time of the illustration because women adapted that look in the late 1920’s.
Lee herself describes her entry into Edward Steichen’s world in her interview with Mario Amaya in Art in America, May-June, 1975:
Mario Amaya: “How did you meet Steichen?”
Lee Miller: “Through Condé Nast-and through Frank Crowninshield, whom I’d known since I was 16 both in Paris and New York.” [N.B. Lee was 19 when she first went to Paris so her age may be an error. Apparently she met Crowninshield was he was visiting Lee’s school in Paris].
In Amaya’s often cited article, Lee talks about many of the “talking points” of her life: solarization, Blood of the Poet, meeting her love and mentor, Man Ray, work for French Vogue, New York Vogue, Horst P. Horst, WWII, meeting Roland Penrose, Electrecite photographs, Theodore Miller, “The Observatory” painting and “Object to be Destroyed” by Man Ray, the 1930 White Ball (Bal Blanc) and more. Yet through it all and, especially in the context of Nast and Steichen, she never mentions the Nast/Lepape encounters.
In his autobiographical book, Scrapbook (1981), Roland Penrose writes about Lee’s beauty and origins in Poughkeepsie, New York, but not about his wife being a successful model rescued by Condé Nast or a Lepape cover model (5).
In the early 1930’s there were a spate of articles promoting the Lee Miller Studio in New York. These are articles where one would certainly expect mention of Nast and Lepape for marketing of her fashion and portrait photography, yet again, there is silence. The articles even exaggerate her modeling experience as a marketing point and it is very difficult to imagine how Lee or her agent Julien Levy would not have made Nast and Lepape a central theme.
In 1944 Lee’s mother, Florence, was interviewed by the Vassar student newspaper because the university was showing Jean Cocteau’s 1930 French film Blood of the Poet that stared Lee. Florence speaks generally about Lee, but on the topic of modeling, she does not mention any encounter with Nast nor a cover illustration with Lepape. She specifically characterizes Lee's first connection with Vogue to be a photograph which is consistent with her freelance modeling for Steichen in 1928.
Although newspapers discuss other events in Lee’s life, Condé Nast and Georges Lepape are not to be found. There was very little written about Lee during the course of her life, particularly where she is actually interviewed but there are no accounts wherein she or anyone refers to the Nast/Lepape events.
In his autobiography, Self Portrait (1963) Man Ray, a lover, mentor and key figure in Lee’s life, talks about Lee’s beauty and his attraction to her, but does not mention Lee as having a successful modeling career nor the Nast/Lepape storyline. Nor does he reference these at any other time during his long life and 45-year relationship with Lee.
In addition, in his autobiography, Memories of a Gallery (1977), Julien Levy, the New York City Gallerist, promoter and lover of Lee, speaks braggingly of Lee’s beauty and his attraction to her, but does not mention a successful modeling career in New York, Nast or Lepape. Furthermore, Levy does not promote the storyline when he was marketing the Lee Miller Studio in New York.
In the Woman We Wanted to Look Like (1978) by Bridget Keenan, the author had the opportunity to interview Lee near the end of her life about early modeling in the 1920’s. Although Lee talks about meeting Steichen and Man Ray and Hoyningen-Huene, again there is no mention by Lee of the Nast encounter and the Lepape cover girl illustration.
In 1975 Julien Levy donated 36 photographs taken by Lee during her Paris years to the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC). David Travis of the AIC was tasked with the cataloging of Lee’s work for an exhibition of photographs from the Levy collection at the AIC along with authoring a book on the subject. In the process he worked closely with Lee in preparing her biographical information which she provided and then after a first draft by Travis, she corrected. She included her exhibition at the Levy Gallery, work from the Lee Miller Studio, WWII, her involvement with Cocteau and Blood of the Poet and even the still photographs she took at the Elstree Studios yet, like her interview with Amaya, there is nothing about Nast saving her from the traffic accident or Lepape illustrating her for the over of Vogue, or even mention of a successful modelling career in the late 1920s (see also Burke’s Lee Miller: a Life page 364).
The forgoing list could go on indefinitely but the obituaries of Lee are, perhaps, most telling by virtue of their silence on the issue of Lee’s modeling career, Nast or Lepape, although reference is made to other “talking points” in her life.
In short, there is nothing documented during the course of Lee’s life to confirm the story as presented by Antony Penrose. This is troubling.
While there is nothing to support Lee as a Vogue cover girl or highly successful, sought-after model, the theme of “Vogue Cover Girl to WWII Photojournalist” dominates the Lee Miller story. It runs through every book, article, exhibition and documentary published about Lee Miller. Yet, the catalyst is an unsubstantiated revelation in 1985 that she was the Georges Lepape cover girl for the March 1927 issue of Vogue after being saved by Condé Nast. If Lee was not a “damsel in distress” saved by Nast, then she was not immediately offered the cover of Vogue nor directly hired as a Vogue model. How then did she gain entry into “cafe society” and on occasion, a Steichen model?
A conclusive answer cannot be offered, but there are more plausible possibilities. As is often the case, the obvious explanation may be the most likely. Lee was exceptionally beautiful and had been working as a chorus girl for White Scandals, a more risqué version of the Zigfield Follies.
In discussing Lee’s chorus girl experience with White’s Scandals, Carolyn Burke recounts the observation of Louisa Brooks, a White’s Scandals performer, who observed that the chorus girls were courted by young bachelors who “finding debutantes a threat, turned to pretty girls in theater.” Burke observes that “…for those who knew how to capitalize on their natural resources, invitations to Park Avenue might lead to lavish wardrobes, screen tests and financial rewards-- or for the less enterprising, a job modeling something more substantial than a Scandals costume” (6).
As regards to the Park Avenue and modeling opportunities at Condé Nast’s penthouse, Tanja Ramm, Lee’s good friend, commented that “He [Nast] loved to mix the social, business, and theater communities, adding a few young things like Lee and me” (7). Tanja’s specific reference to the theater community suggests that Lee’s chorus girl connection was the key that opened the door to Park Avenue, and subsequently, Edward Steichen.
This theory is not offered as fact, but rather as an example of scenarios more plausible than Lives presents. Another theory that might serve, is that Frank Crowninshield invited Lee and Tanja to the Nast parties since she claims to have known him since she was a teenager. Crowninshield was responsible for arranging the invitations and guest lists for the Nast parties and he was a close friend of Nast. Whether Lee entered the world of fashion and Condé Nast through ‘the theatre community’, Crowninshield, or other means, her entrance as the ‘damsel in distress’ via the Nast/Lepape story is a shaky pillar upon which to rest the legend.
Footnotes:
(1) Penrose, Antony (1985) The Lives of Lee Miller Thames & Hudson (page 16)
(2) Burke, Carolyn (2005). Lee Miller: A Life. Knopf, New York (page 56-57)
(3) (07/15/2020-08/17/2020) email correspondence with New York Vogue Archives
(4) Lepape, Claude & Defert, Thierey (1984) From the Ballets Russes to Vogue: The Art of Georges Lepape The Vendome Press (page 42-3)
(5) Penrose, Roland (1981) Scrapbook Rizzoli International Publications Inc.
(6) Burke, Carolyn (2005). Lee Miller: A Life. Knopf, New York (page 51)
(7) Burke, Carolyn (2005). Lee Miller: A Life. Knopf, New York (page 61)