Lee Miller was a muse, model and photojournalist whose extraordinary bohemian life has long captured the popular imagination.

But a new exhibition is intent on proving that the American was also one of the most original photographic artists of the 20th century.

The Art Of Lee Miller at the Victoria & Albert Museum begins with photographs of her when she was a model and muse to artist Man Ray.

But the majority of the 140 images in the show - the most significant of her work ever held - are by Miller herself.

They include striking Surrealist images and portraits of Charlie Chaplin and her friend Picasso.

Also included is her work as a photojournalist on the frontline of the Second World War, as well as advertisements and commissions for Vogue.

There are some pictures never shown before, including Severed Breast, which shows a breast removed in a radical mastectomy.

Miller's son Antony Penrose said today: "She had such a sensational life.

"Everyone is overwhelmed by this beautiful woman who was Man Ray's model, took her clothes off at every opportunity and went to bed with everybody and the devil with the consequences that they don't look at the person who had huge artistic potential and integrity."

Curator Mark Haworth-Booth said: "I'm not sure people in some quarters have taken her that seriously as a photographer but she made a number of photographs that no one else in the 20th century made. They came out of something inside her that was unique."

• The Art Of Lee Miller, sponsored by Olympus, runs from Saturday until 6 January next year. For further information, visit www.vam.ac.uk/leemiller