Phoebus Apollo

Peter Miller

oil on canvas, 18 x 22 inches

1930's, signed and titled en verso

framed in wood

exhibited at Francis Naumann Fine Art, NYC, 2016

American artist Peter Miller (1913-1996) 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. Peter 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 Peter and the reliance of Native Americans upon the land and the animals permeated her work for most of her career.

Additional work by this artist

Canyon Wall

Canyon Wall

Peter Miller
Time

Time

Peter Miller
Organic

Organic

Peter Miller
Head

Head

Peter Miller

Other works in Modern

IMG 3177 Dreamcatcher 28 x 42 LR

Dream catcher

Peter Miller
Ceremony

Ceremony

Peter Miller
Archaic Figure

Archaic Figure

Peter Miller
Soul Speak

Soul Speak

Peter Miller

Other works in Abstract

Blue Amoeba

Blue Amoeba

Ray Leight
Messenger

Messenger

Peter Miller
Gifts from Heaven

Gifts from Heaven

Peter Miller
Three Spirits

Three Spirits

Peter Miller

Other works in Modernism

Other works in Surrealism

Other works in Sold

Two Figures

Two Figures

Peter Miller
Courtship

Courtship

Peter Miller
Manayunk Houses LR

Manayunk Houses

Giovanni Martino

Other works in Sold Peter Miller

Two Harpis

Two Harpis

Peter Miller
Flowers

Flowers

Peter Miller
Organic

Organic

Peter Miller

Other works in Peter Miller Collection

Tools

Tools

Peter Miller
Head

Head

Peter Miller