Title

Still life

circa 1945-1950

Artist

Godfrey Miller

Australia

20 Aug 1893 – 10 May 1964

Artist profile

Details

Date

circa 1945-1950

Media category

Painting

Materials used

oil, pen and black ink on canvas

Dimensions

51.6 x 56.8 cm

Signature & date

Signed l.r., black ink "GM". Not dated.

Credit

Gift of the H.G. Slater Foundation 1981

Location

Not on display

Accession number

202.1981

Copyright

© Estate of Godfrey Miller
Reproduction requests

Artist information

Godfrey Miller
Artist profile

Works in the collection

56

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About

This painting is remarkable in its vivacity and vibrancy of colour, depicting a dynamic still life arrangement with skillful resolution of objects. It encapsulates Godfrey Miller's ideological search for unity; the fundamental interconnectedness of all matter in a disparate, fragmented world. Objects are absorbed into the grid system covering the entire picture surface, characteristic of the artist's idiosyncratic cubism. The painting's sparkling patterns, judicious placements and dynamic movement between vibrating spheres of fruit form part of the artist's expression of his life-long interest in spiritual and scientific systems.

Miller was deeply cerebral and philosophical in his quest to create work that accorded with his views on art and life. Trained initally as an architect in New Zealand, he studied and lived around Melbourne during the 1920s, then settled in Sydney in 1939 following extensive travel in Asia and Europe and a decade of study in London.
Exhibition history
Shown in 7 exhibitions
- Patrick White's choice, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 22 Dec 1981–31 Jan 1982
- Project 41: The mosaic -The grid (1983), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 25 Mar 1983–24 Apr 1983
- Twentieth century Australian masterworks from the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Fred Williams Pilbara series from the collection of CRA Limited, Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, , 04 Oct 1985–06 Nov 1985
- Godfrey Miller, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 15 Mar 1996–05 May 1996
  
  Godfrey Miller, National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road], Melbourne, 15 May 1996–17 Jun 1996
- Australian Painters Seeing Cézanne, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 28 Nov 1998–17 Jan 1999
- Parallel Visions: Twenty-two artists from the Australian collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 22 Feb 2002–May 2003
- Still life, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 27 Jul 2013–23 Apr 2014
Bibliography
Referenced in 14 publications
- Edmund Capon AM, OBE and Jan Meek (Editors), Portrait of a Gallery, 'Australian 20th Century Art', pg. 71-89, Sydney, 1984, 77 (colour illus.).
- Deborah Edwards, Godfrey Miller, Sydney, 1996, 39 (colour illus.), 121. plate no. 26
- Deborah Edwards, Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 'Mosaic and figure', pg. 213-214, Sydney, 2000, 215 (colour illus.), 301.
- Sasha Grishin, Parallel visions: works from the Australian collection, 'Roger Kemp / Godfrey Miller', pg. 104-115, Sydney, 2002, 110 (colour illus.), 145, 147.
- Kate Hart, Australian art pack: 1788-21st century still life, Box Hill, (2006), (colour illus.). card 4
- Helen Verity Hewitt, Patrick White, painter, manqué: paintings, painters and their influence on his writing, 'Patrick White's choice', pg. 114-119, Carlton, 2002, 118-119.
- Bruce James, The Sydney Morning Herald, 'In the shadow of the master', pg. 3, Sydney, 28 Nov 1998, 3 (colour illus.). This appears in the Sprectrum section of the newspaper.
- Barry Pearce and Patrick McCaughey, Twentieth century Australian masterworks from the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Fred Williams Pilbara Series, Tokyo, 1985, 23 (colour illus.). cat.no. 7
- Barry Pearce, The world of Antiques & Art, 'Exploring hidden treasures in Parallel Visions', pg. 124-126, Bondi Junction, Jul 2002-Dec 2002, 126 (colour illus.).
- Barry Pearce, Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, 'Australian', pg. 13-35, Sydney, 1988, 27.
- Ursula Prunster, Australian painters; Seeing Cézanne, 'An era of staunch individuals: the 1940s to 1960s', pg. 9-12, Sydney, 1998, 10, 14 (colour illus.), 30. cat.no. 10
- Ursula Prunster, Look, 'Australian Painters: Seeing Cézanne', pg. 20-21, Heidelberg, Nov 1998, 21 (colour illus.).
- Patrick White, Patrick White's Choice, Sydney, Dec 1981, (colour illus.). cat.no. 10
- Project 41 - the mosaic, the grid, Sydney, 1983. cat.no. 2