Richard Edward Miller 1875-1943

Private Collection, St-Jean-du-Doigt, Finistère, France
Acquired by the present owner from the above, circa 1997

This work is in excellent condition. The canvas is unlined. Under UV: there is no apparent inpainting.
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Richard Edward Miller spent the summers of 1912 and 1913 in St. Jean du Doigt on the Northwest coast of France. Given the provenance of Contemplation and its close relationship to other paintings from this time, one may surmise the present work was completed during one of those seasonal sojourns. Marie Louise Kane writes, “A series of women-in-interiors painted around 1913…are among Miller’s most inventive works. By placing his figures indoors in front of windows overlooking gardens, as he increasingly did, Miller could combine the play of natural light with complex patterns created by man-made objects, like shutters, blinds, wicker chairs, striped and tiered fabrics, and French doors.  …Using the same model, costume, setting, accessories and palette, Miller painted three closely-related versions of the same theme.  …The degree to which Miller succeeded in establishing a quiet, meditative mood amidst the profusion of pattern and color in these paintings is another measure of his skill” (A Bright Oasis, The Paintings of Richard Edward Miller, New York, 1997, p. 41).

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Miller pursued a career as an artist from an early age. After study at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts, he traveled to Paris in 1899 where he enrolled at the Académie Julian. Miller was among a circle of American artists who remained based in Paris, and his reputation grew through regular exhibitions at the Paris Salon, as well as numerous locations abroad including the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York and the Venice Biennale. By 1907, he was spending his summers in Giverny where he was central to the colony of American artists who embraced the locale for the same effects of light and color that drew Claude Monet to the region. Miller left for the United States in 1915 following the outbreak of World War I, and, though he intended to return to France, he instead settled among the artist’s colony in Provincetown, Massachusetts in 1919 where he remained thereafter until his death in 1943.