Farleys House & Gallery – the home of the photographer Lee Miller and her artist husband Roland Penrose – has gained charitable status in a bid to safeguard its collection and ensure wider access for audiences in the future.
The rural farmhouse was purchased by the couple in 1949 and quickly became a hub for avant-garde artists and the wider Surrealist movement, hosting the likes of Pablo Picasso, Man Ray and Leonora Carrington.
In the 1980s, the house became the headquarters of the family-run Lee Miller Archive, welcoming a small number of visitors to tour the property and sculpture gardens on selected days. It also cares for the Penrose Collection.
Antony Miller, the couple’s son and co-director of Farleys, has now gifted the entirety of the house, galleries and wider site to the newly formed charity. It is hoped the move will strengthen the site’s ability to protect its historic collection, open up funding avenues, and widen access to audiences.
A growing interest in Miller’s work – boosted by major exhibitions at the V&A and Tate in London, and the recent film, Lee, about Miller’s experiences as a photojournalist in the second world war – has necessitated the development of the rambling property, to protect not just Miller and Penroses’ legacies but also the stories it holds about some of the word’s most important artists.
Advertisement
Ami Bouhassane, the co-director of Farleys and granddaughter of Lee Miller, said: “Becoming a charity is the biggest step that my family has taken since my parents, Antony and Suzanna Penrose, along with my grandfather Roland Penrose, started the archives in 1977. As a small family enterprise, we have spent decades establishing Lee Miller’s legacy and Farleys – often against considerable odds.
“In the current climate where arts funding is in crisis, this transition feels necessary. We hope that becoming a charity will encourage people to donate and share in safeguarding Farleys.”
As a charity, Farleys will look to establish an endowment fund and a conservation campaign to care for its sitting room sofa and other items in the collection. It continues to welcome visitors and has also launched a Patreon scheme for support.
Farleys House & Gallery is open annually April to end October on Thursdays, Fridays, Sundays and select Saturdays for house tours, exhibitions, events and workshops.
