Richard Edward Miller

(American, 1875-1943)

The Necklace (La femme au collier), c. 1913

oil on canvas

36 x 29 inches.

Provenance:

Sold: Bayeux Auction House, Bayeux, France, July 14, 1991, Lot 42

Estate of John F. Norwood, St. Louis, Missouri

Sold: Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, Chicago, September 25, 2015, Lot 245

Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Exhibited:

New York, The Jordan-Volpe Gallery, A Bright Oasis: The Paintings of Richard E. Miller, April 25 - June 6, 1997

Literature:

Marie Louise Kane, A Bright Oasis: The Paintings of Richard E. Miller, 1997, no. 30, pl. 30, pp. 113; 130, illus.

Recognized as one of the leading members of the American art colony in Giverny, France, Richard Edward Miller garnered widespread acclaim for his depictions of female figures in sunlit interiors. Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Miller traveled to Paris in 1899 where he enrolled at the Académie Julian. He remained in Paris and found success 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, the artist was summering in Giverny, where his association with fellow American artists, including Frederick Carl Frieseke, Guy Rose, and Louis Ritman, lightened his palette and his aesthetic became distinguished by an emphasis on pattern, line, and bold color contrasts.

Miller spent the summers of 1912 and 1913 in St. Jean du Doigt, a small coastal town in Brittany, France. Given its stylistic similarity to other paintings from this time, it may be surmised that The Necklace (La Femme au Collier) was painted during one of these trips. 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." (Mary Louise Kane, A Bright Oasis, The Paintings of Richard Edward Miller, New York, 1997, p. 41)

In The Necklace (La Femme au Collier), patterns dominate. The play of the wicker armchair’s diamond design contrasts against the woman’s striped dress and the fabric draped on a table, which in turn alternates against the horizontal blinds and vertical balcony railing. Quick, short brushstrokes delineate these varying lines and are juxtaposed against the smooth application of paint that describes the woman’s face, décolletage, and hands. The sitter appears tranquil as she contemplates a length of green beads, unaware of the riot of pattern and color within her chamber and outside her window in the garden. The cool palette of green and purple, a favorite of the artist’s, likewise produces a sense of calm, and further distinguishes the interior from the sunlit garden. With its strong sense of design and color contrast, this work exemplifies Miller’s belief that "art's mission is not literary, the telling of a story, but decorative, the conveying of a pleasant optical sensation." (cited in Michael David Zellman, editor, American Art Analog, New York, 1986, p. 764)

The Necklace (La femme au collier), c. 1913