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An image of Still life with lute by Godfrey Miller
Alternate image of Still life with lute by Godfrey Miller Alternate image of Still life with lute by Godfrey Miller Alternate image of Still life with lute by Godfrey Miller
Alternate image of Still life with lute by Godfrey Miller

Godfrey Miller

(Australia 1893–1964)

Title
Still life with lute
Other titles:
The lute
Year
(circa 1954-circa 1956)
Media category
Painting
Materials used
oil, pen and black ink on canvas on hardboard
Dimensions

64.5 x 82.5cm board; 69.8 x 87.2 x 4.3cm frame

Signature & date
Signed l.r. corner, pen and black ink "Godfrey Miller/ O". Not dated.
Credit
Purchased 1956
Accession number
9286
Copyright
© Estate of Godfrey Miller/John Henshaw
Location
20th & 21st c Australian art
Further information

Godfrey Miller believed that painting and music were the richest sources for the communication of metaphysical ideas. Seeking to demonstrate the structural equivalence between these two forms of expression, in 1935 he wrote:

Music is not now merely a flowing past – as it were horizontal rhythmic measure. It appears also of a vertical nature ... By that I mean that the structure is expressed as the modern painters are expressing their structure ... I can see the same mentality ... rhythm binds together so finely but it has the shortcomings of not raising itself high vertically. The geometrical line of thought, with its ability of thinking of things towering and mounting has great power. I can see the value of Cézanne’s notes of pure colour. I can see also Picasso’s piling up of things – bits of paper, pamphlets, books and playing cards ... A structure must raise itself.

Bibliography (21)

Sue Cramer (Author), Lesley Harding (Australia) (Author), Cubism & Australian art, Carlton, 2009, 158 (colour illus.). NOTE: two related paintings reproduced.'Still life with lute', 1960-63, collection of the Newcastle Region Art Gallery, NSW and 'Still life with muscial instruments' circa 1958, collection of the National Gallery of Victoria.

Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Parallel visions: works from the Australian collection, Domain, 2002, front cover and inside front flap (colour illus., detail), 112 (colour illus.), 113, 145, 147.

Enter Art 2000, 2000, sheet number 11 (colour illus.). Education kit produced by the NSW Dept of Education and Training as teaching resource for primary school teachers.

Lou Klepac (Australia; Croatia, b.1936) (Author), Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Bruce James (Australia) (Author), John McDonald (Australia, b.1961) (Author), Peter Pinson (Australia, b.1943) (Author), Gavin Fry (Author), Sasha Grishin AM (Australia) (Author), Deborah Hart (South Africa; United Kingdom; Australia, b.1959) (Author), Australian painters of the twentieth century, Roseville, 2000, 57 (colour illus.).

Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Domain, 2000, 216 (colour illus.), 301.

Bruce James (Australia) (Author), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Director), Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook, Domain, 1999, 159 (colour illus.).

Lynne Seear (Australia) (Editor), Julie Ewington (Australia) (Editor), Brought to light: Australian Art 1850-1965, South Brisbane, 1998, 248, 249 (colour illus.).

Deborah Edwards (Australia) (Author), Godfrey Miller, Sydney, 1996, 44, 47 (colour illus.), 123. plate no. 34

Ewen McDonald (Australia) (Editor), The Art Gallery of New South Wales collections, Sydney, 1994, 63 (colour illus.).

Editor Unknown (Editor), Art Gallery of New South Wales picturebook, Domain, 1972, 121 (colour illus.).

Author Unknown (Author), The Art Gallery of New South Wales Picture Book, Sydney, 1972, 121.

'Godfrey Miller:The man who became a legend' by Kay Keavney, pg. 11., The Australian women's weekly 16 Nov 1966, 16 Nov 1966, 11 (colour illus.). NOTE: Caption reads "'The Lute' bought for a mere 200 gns by the N.S.W. Art Gallery, Sydney, in 1956. Present value is much more."

The Sydney Morning Herald 17 Feb 1965, 17 Feb 1965, 13.

Clive Turnbull (Author), Jean Campbell (Australia) (Author), Daniel Thomas (Author), Australian painting: colonial, impressionist, contemporary, Adelaide, 1962, 45. cat.no. 146

Author Unknown (Author), The Adelaide Festival of Arts 1962: Special exhibitions at the National Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 1962. cat.no. 154; titled 'Still life with Lute'; Collection of Art Gallery of New South Wales; not paginated

'Recent Australian Painting' by Hal Missingham, pg. 33-41, 63, The Studio 1957, 1957, 41 (colour illus.). Collection: The artist; Titled: 'The Lute'

Laurie Thomas (Australia, b.1915, d.1974) (Author), Contemporary Australian painters, Ottawa, 1957, (illus.). cat.no. 41, illus.no. 3

'New Exhibition by Surrealist Gleeson' by Paul Haefliger, pg. 2., The Sydney Morning Herald 21 Nov 1956, 21 Nov 1956, 2.

National Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Purchases and Acquisitions for 1956 National Art Gallery of N.S.W., Sydney, 1956, 8. cat.no. 11

Olympic Civic Committee of Melbourne City Council (Australia, active 1956), The arts festival of the Olympic Games, Melbourne: a guide to the exhibitions with introductory commentaries on the arts in Australia, Melbourne, 1956, 142. cat.no. 92; titled 'The lute'; Collection National Art Gallery of New South Wales

David Jones' Art Gallery, Sydney (Australia, estab. 1928) (Author), Australian artists of note exhibition, Sydney, 1956. cat.no. 31; titled 'Still Life with Lute'; priced 200 guineas

Exhibition history (18)

The Arts Festival of the Olympic Games (1956), National Gallery of Victoria [Swanston Street], 18 Nov 1956–15 Dec 1956.

Australian Artists of Note, David Jones' Art Gallery, Sydney, 21 Nov 1956–05 Dec 1956.

Contemporary Australian Painters (1957), Winnipeg Art Gallery, Jul 1957–Sep 1957.

Contemporary Australian Painters (1957), London Public Library and Art Museum, Sep 1957–Oct 1957.

Contemporary Australian Painters (1957), Art Gallery of Hamilton, Oct 1957–Nov 1957.

Contemporary Australian Painters (1957), The Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Nov 1957–Dec 1957.

Contemporary Australian Painters (1957), National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Dec 1957–Jan 1958.

Contemporary Australian Painters (1957), Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Feb 1958–Mar 1958.

Contemporary Australian Painters (1957), The Art Gallery of Toronto, Apr 1958 -.

Contemporary Australian Painters (1957), The Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery, Regina College, May 1958 -.

Australian Painting: Colonial, Impressionist, Contemporary (1962-63), National Gallery of South Australia, 17 Mar 1962–31 Mar 1962.

Australian Painting: Colonial, Impressionist, Contemporary (1962-63), Art Gallery of Western Australia, 23 Sep 1962–24 Oct 1962.

Australian Painting: Colonial, Impressionist, Contemporary (1962-63), Tate Britain, 24 Jan 1963–03 Mar 1963.

Godfrey Miller, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 15 Mar 1996–05 May 1996.

Godfrey Miller, National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road], 15 May 1996–17 Jun 1996.

Parallel Visions: Twenty-two artists from the Australian collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 22 Feb 2002–May 2003.

Australian modern masterpieces from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, 05 Oct 2011–27 Nov 2011.

Australian modern masterpieces from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Newcastle Region Art Gallery, 10 Dec 2011–04 Mar 2012.