Peter MillerUntitled Abstract by Female American Modernist and Surrealist Peter Miller1930's
1930's
About the Item
- Creator:Peter Miller (1913 - 1996, American)
- Creation Year:1930's
- Dimensions:Height: 31 in (78.74 cm)Width: 23 in (58.42 cm)Depth: 1.5 in (3.81 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:Artwork has been cleaned, varnished, and inspected by a professional art conservator. A detailed condition report is available upon request.
- Gallery Location:Doylestown, PA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1402211886412
American artist Peter Miller was born Henrietta Myers in Hanover, Pennsylvania. She began using the name Peter Miller after concluding her studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1934 and her marriage to fellow artist and academy student Earle Miller in 1935. She felt collectors and critics would take her paintings more seriously if she was identified as a male.
In childhood, Henrietta and her best friend Ruth picked fictitious nicknames for themselves, and Henrietta reportedly decided upon the name Peter because she liked the idea that it was derived from the Greek word for “rock” or “stone.” Drawn to being one with the natural world would prove to be an essential inspiration to her creativity throughout her life.
Miller is classified as an American modernist, a reputation she earned for having shown at the prestigious gallery and premiere showcase for Surrealist painting of Julien Levy in New York in the 1940s. Reviewers of her exhibitions noted the unmistakable influence of the artists Joan Miró, whose work she owned and whom she knew, and Arthur Carles, whom she studied with, and sources in Native American culture, which came from sharing time between her home state of Pennsylvania and New Mexico.
Miller and her husband Earle considered New Mexico their spiritual home, and in 1935 they built a ranch in Española, about 25 miles north of Santa Fe. Being neighbors of the indigenous people of the Tewa Pueblo, their crafts and religious beliefs fascinated Miller and the reliance of Native Americans upon the land and the animals permeated her work for most of her career. Their belief that all creatures could serve as intermediaries in communication with the spiritual world, inspired Miller to incorporate their symbols in her own paintings, along with signs drawn from indigenous pottery and local petroglyphs. The Millers’ intimate familiarity with the customs, rituals, and ceremonies, was assisted by their friendship with the writer Edith Warner and her friend Tilano Montoya, a Native American from the San Ildefonso Pueblo. Warner and Montoya ran a tearoom and restaurant near the Otowi Bridge by the Rio Grande, which later would become a famous meeting place for scientists associated with the Manhattan Project in nearby Los Alamos.
Miller died at her farm in Pennsylvania in 1996 at the age of 83. The Millers had no children, so upon her death, the artist left her farm and more than 250 acres of land to the Brandywine River Museum and Conservancy and the Natural Lands Trust and their ranch and land in New Mexico to the San Ildefonso Pueblo, along with a bequest of funds to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Find original Peter Miller paintings on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Doylestown, PA
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
- Untitled (The Opening), Abstraction by American Female ModernistLocated in Doylestown, PA"Untitled (The Opening)" is a 36 x 30 inches, oil on canvas painting by American modernist and surrealist, female artist Peter Miller. The work is estate stamped #202157 on verso. Th...Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- Order Slips, Abstract Still Life by American Female Modernist Peter MillerLocated in Doylestown, PA"Order Slips" is a 40 x 50 inches, oil on canvas painting by American modernist and surrealist, female artist Peter Miller. The work is signed "Peter Miller", titled, and estate stam...Category
1970s Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- Biomorphic Abstract #1 by Philadelphia Expressionist PainterBy Morris Lewis BlackmanLocated in Doylestown, PA"Biomorphic Abstract #1" is a 46 x 30 inches oil on canvas work by Philadelphia artist Morris Lewis Blackman. The painting is signed and dated "MLB 61-62" in the lower left and it is...Category
1960s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- Les Competiteurs, American Modernist, Abstract Figurative Oil on Canvas, 1952By Leonard NelsonLocated in Doylestown, PA"Les Competiteurs" by American modernist painter Leonard Nelson is a 36" x 26" oil on canvas abstract figurative painting, created in 1952. The work is framed in classic black and si...Category
1950s Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- Expressionist Abstract #8, multi colored, Philadelphia artist, signedBy Morris Lewis BlackmanLocated in Doylestown, PA"Expressionist Abstract #8" is a 50 x 28 inches oil on canvas work by Philadelphia artist Morris Lewis Blackman. The painting is signed in the artist's monogram "MLB" in the lower left and it is estate stamped on verso. Additional shipping options are available by contacting the seller via 1stDibs messaging system. Morris Blackman...Category
1960s Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsOil, Canvas
- White Pidgeon, La Paloma Blanca, Modernist Abstract, 1962, Framed Oil on CanvasBy Leon KellyLocated in Doylestown, PA"White Pidgeon - La Paloma Blanca" by Philadelphia born modernist and surrealist painter Leon Kelly, is a large scale Modernist Abstract painting. The 40" x ...Category
1960s Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- Untitled 01 [Remains of the Remains 01] - Contemporary, Black, White, AbstractBy Zsolt BerszánLocated in Berlin, DEUntitled 01 [Remains of the Remains 01], 2018 oil on canvas 78 47/64 H x 59 1/16 W in 200 H x 150 W cm The large-sized paintings, signed by Zsolt Berszán...Category
2010s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- OriginsBy Osvaldo MariscottiLocated in New York, NYOrigins, 2020 Oil on canvas (3 panels) 72 x 108 x 1 1/2 inches, overall Signed and dated, verso leftmost panelCategory
2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- Sonata 23 TriptychBy Osvaldo MariscottiLocated in New York, NYSonata 23 Triptych 2017 Oil on canvas (3 panels) 48 x 120 x 1 1/2 inches, overall Signed and dated, versoCategory
2010s Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- Color Symphony 49 TriptychBy Osvaldo MariscottiLocated in New York, NYColor Symphony 49 Triptych, 2016 Oil on canvas (3 panels) 72 x 120 x 1 1/2 inches, overall Signed and dated, verso leftmost panelCategory
2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- Diving for PearlsLocated in New York, NYDiving for Pearls, 1986 Oil on canvas 88 x 76 in. (223.5 x 193 cm) Signed, dated, and titled, versoCategory
1980s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- James Joyce's SmileLocated in New York, NYJames Joyce's Smile, 1984 Oil on canvas 66 x 87 in. (167.6 x 221 cm) Signed, dated, and titled, versoCategory
1980s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil