<b>FESTIVAL OF LANTERNS</b> / Lilian May Miller1934$1,800</em>

Details

Lillian May Miller was an American painter, woodblock printmaker, and poet born in Tokyo, Japan. After her formal education in the United States, Miller returned to Asia in 1918. Miller began producing woodblock prints when she returned, but printmaking was secondary to her career as a journalist and secretary/clerk for the State Department and the American Embassy for much of her professional life. Perhaps because Miller was born in Japan and spent a significant portion of her youth receiving art education and training in Asia, her work illustrates a direct engagement and understanding of Japanese artistic philosophy and aesthetics from within the tradition.

This simple and poignant night scene depicts an array of lit lanterns around a lone pine tree presumably located at a shrine or temple. The tree is shown at close proximity, solely exposing its straight and dense trunk, partially illuminated by the lantern glow below. All the while, the dark and vibrant midnight dominates the composition’s negative space creating a surprising sense of depth—inviting the viewer to enter and approach further, and deeper still, at an impossible depth within the unfolding of this magical composition.

Connoisseur's Note

Of all the Western artists working in Asia at this time, Miller’s work is perhaps the rarest in the marketplace. Simply put, she was not a professional artist, which resulted in a much smaller output.