Gerhard Miller

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(1903, Sturgeon Bay, WI - 2003)

Imaginative realist painter, Gerhard Miller first divulged his interest in art when he contracted polio at the age of twelve. He lost the ability to walk due to the disease and to pass the time, he taught himself painting by studying art books and visiting museums. During this period, Miller was occasionally instructed by Roy Mason, an artist from Batavia, New York. After multiple surgeries and hours physical therapy, Miller regained the ability to walk.

While his interest in the arts was never lost, Miller studied business administration at the University of Wisconsin in preparation to take over the family’s retail clothing business in Sturgeon Bay. Unfortunately, Miller was forced to drop out early when his father grew ill began his career in the business early. While raising his children with his first wife, Edna, Miller was determined to pursue his artistic interests. Everyday he dedicated an hour in the morning before work, a half an hour during the day, and a few hours in the evening to paint.

When Miller began to explore the painting medium, he started with oil, but by 1938 he turned his interest to watercolor.In 1956, Miller’s wife, Edna, died. The following year, he remarried to Ruth, who was formally trained in art. In 1958, he opened a gallery in his home and in 1965, he, along with his second wife, earned a fellowship at the Huntington-Hartford Foundation in Pacific Palisades, CA. There, he studied egg tempera, which became his favored medium for larger paintings.

Miller’s paintings often feature the landscape of Door County created in the imaginative realist style. He often started with a sketch created in location, but never painted in plein air. During the 1940s, Miller began to travel internationally. He explored 44 countries in total spanning across Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. The sights found during his travels provided further subject matter for his paintings.

Miller’s work was exhibited at the Whitney and Museum of Modern Art in New York (1962). He earned an honorary Doctorate from Moravian College, Bethlehem, PA. Miller was also a member of the American Watercolor Society, Audubon Society, Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors, and Wisconsin Watercolor Society.

Among painting, Miller was also a published poet (Residue, 1944), writer [The Other Side of the Door and The Thrill of Castle Hunting (co-authored with his wife, Ruth), Spiritual Guide to the Scientific 21st Century, Levels-Physical, Mental and Spiritual, Philosophical Truisms, Highlights of the Holy Land, God is in Control,and Highlights of the Travels of an Artist and His Wife], and an art lecturer to various Wisconsin groups and local Sturgeon Bay residents.

He and his wife, Ruth, founded the Miller Art Center in Sturgeon Bay in 1975. There, over 100 of his works are in the permanent collection and often exhibited.

Source: Miller Art Museum, “Gerhard Carl Friedrich Miller”, https://millerartmuseum.org/explore-the-collection accessed March 6, 2019.

Wisconsin Public Television, Wisconsin Hometown Stories: Door County, “Miller, Gerhard”, https://wpt.org/Wisconsin-Hometown-Stories/207077/Asset/miller-gerhard. Accessed March 6, 2019.

Photo credit: Wisconsin Historical Society (image of Gerhard Miller and his wife).