This late 19th-century oil painting by American artist Charles Henry Miller (1842-1922) depicts an evening view on the River Lea at Tottenham, London. Miller was an ingenious painter of landscapes and a member of the National Academy.
Gently lit by the early rays of a rising sun, several vessels bob on this busy waterway. On a nearby barge, two sailors appear to be stepping a mast. While beyond, the horizon is punctuated by triangular sails. Miller visited London several times and it’s conceivable that, on this occasion in 1885, he took a boat along the river. This is an exceedingly rare find as, according to our records, it’s the first time that one of his London works has been publicly available.
Born in Manhattan, New York, Miller’s father, Jacob Miller, was an architect and evidently furnished his son with a natural aptitude for drawing. It’s fascinating to consider whether such skills are acquired via one’s DNA or through observation and nurture. His dexterity as a draughtsman served him well as, in 1859, he enrolled at the National Academy and had a painting hung there soon after. At 18, he was already receiving encouraging plaudits from both peers and tutors.
However, despite his ability with a pencil and sketchbook, his father dissuaded him from a career in the arts and, instead, offered him two choices - law or medicine, from which the young aspirant opted for the latter. Despite this, he retained his commitment to art and enrolled at the National Academy while simultaneously undertaking medical studies at the Washington Collegiate Institute. Rarely did an hour go unwasted - this was a young man dedicated to his development.
Following graduation, he joined the New York Homeopathic Medical College, which ultimately led to his degree in 1863, and subsequent employment aboard the ‘Harvest Queen’, as the ship’s doctor. It was a heady time of tense transatlantic voyages, the occasional mutiny, and messy improvised surgery. When docked at Liverpool, he utilised his shore time to explore the delights of European art museums, such as those in London, Scotland, Antwerp and Paris. Sketchbook in hand, he studied the masters, before sailing home and sketching the Atlantic.
Evidently, the formidable works of the finest European artists proved more inspirational than the scalpel and tourniquet, as Miller quit medicine to pursue art full time. In 1867, he undertook a tour - visiting Berlin, Dresden and Vienna before settling in Munich, where he trained under the landscape painter Adolf Heinrich Lier (1826-1882).
Lier was an exciting prospect, inspired by the French ‘plein air’ painters, yet equally blessed with technical nous. He believed that landscapes should convey an overall ‘effect’ rather than focus extensively on details. Miller’s oeuvre is testament to Lier’s preference for atmosphere over obsessive granularity. As one of the first Americans to study art in Germany, he inspired numerous others to follow suit.
Upon returning to the US, he settled in Long Island and soon established himself as an artist of considerable merit. At the time, Queens County consisted of simple farming and fishing villages, scattered around plains and inlets. Occasionally, a rustic mill would break the serenity, but little else. Miller called it home and set about capturing his deeply picturesque environs, not only for the sake of good art but also for posterity. Urbanisation was a looming reality and he treasured the simpler ways of life. Indeed, when Queens and Nassau County transformed immeasurably, he pined for the innocence of yesteryear. The poet Bayard Taylor referred to him as "the discoverer of Long Island”.
Miller’s ability to deftly capture a view while also conveying a mood, captured the attention of the National Academy and he was elected a member in 1875. His forward-thinking, broadly French, approach to open air landscape painting wasn’t for everyone, however, as many of the older academicians frowned upon it. He often championed his younger, pioneering contemporaries, to the dismay of the conservative establishment.
As time passed, he continued to approach his work in the same manner, and was awarded numerous accolades, winning gold medals in Massachusetts and New Orleans, among others. In 1879, he was elected as President of the New York Art Club. During the early 20th century, his style would’ve been considered ‘old fashioned’, which is hard to believe given how radical he was just a few decades earlier.
Today, he’s remembered for recording the ever-changing landscape of Long Island, during its transition from rurality to urbanisation.
He’s represented in numerous public collections including at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Brooklyn Institute Museum, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Long Island Museum, Museum of the City of New York, National Academy of Design in New York, and the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence.
Signed/dated in the lower left and held in a later frame.
Learn more about Charles Henry Miller in our directory.
Medium: Oil on canvas
Overall size: 27½” x 15½” / 70cm x 40cm
Year of creation: 1885
Labels & Inscriptions: Inscribed on reverse ‘Lea River, Tottenham’.
Provenance: Private collection, UK.
Condition: Cleaned. Revarnished. Areas of fine and settled craquelure, as you would expect. The paint layer is stable. Frame in good condition with minor age-related wear.
Artist’s auction maximum: £7,537 ($9,500) for ‘Sunset at Purgatory, Newport, Rhode Island’, Oil on canvas, Sloans & Kenyon, Chevy Chase, MD, US, 17 February 2013 (lot 1450).
Our reference: BRV2086
