Earl Beauford Miller, African Flyer, 1965 | Taylor Graham

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Earl Beauford Miller

African Flyer1965

$7,500

Signed: Earl Miller 1965 lower centerCollage, synthetic polymer paint and tape16 x 15 inches, Framed: 24 3/4 x 23 1/2 inches

Artwork Image (placeholder)

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Earl Miller; African Flyer, 1965 (placeholder)

Earl Miller; African Flyer, 1965

Artist

Earl Beauford Miller (1930-2003) was a distinguished African American artist known for his work in painting, printmaking, and collage. Born in Chicago, Miller pursued an unusually comprehensive artistic education at several respected institutions, including Roosevelt College, the Illinois Institute of Technology, Pratt Institute, the Art Students League, and the Brooklyn Museum Art School. He also traveled to Germany to study at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste, where his direct exposure to European modernist movements profoundly shaped his artistic outlook and gave him the transatlantic sensibility that would inform his entire career.

In the early 1960s, Miller became affiliated with the Spiral Group, the collective of prominent Black artists that included Romare Bearden and Norman Lewis. This group sought to explore how Black artists could respond to the Civil Rights Movement through visual expression, and it produced some of the most significant American art of the decade. Miller's work during this period drew deeply on themes of social justice and identity, expressed through vibrant color, dynamic abstraction, and richly layered compositions that combined the language of contemporary American modernism with the political and cultural concerns of the movement.

Miller's career was marked by both national and international recognition, with exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. He also took part in the 1964 Copenhagen show Ten American Negro Artists Living and Working in Europe, a testament to his global reach and to the important role African American expatriate artists played within the broader postwar European art community.

In addition to his studio practice, Miller taught at the University of Washington from 1969 onward, where he mentored young artists and continued to shape the field for decades. His work stands out for its fusion of modernist aesthetics with African American cultural and political themes, securing his place in twentieth-century American art history.

Earl Beauford Miller (1930-2003) was a distinguished African American artist known for his work in painting, printmaking, and collage. Born in Chicago, Miller pursued an unusually comprehensive artistic education at several respected institutions, including Roosevelt College, the Illinois Institute of Technology, Pratt Institute, the Art Students League, and the Brooklyn Museum Art School. He also traveled to Germany to study at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste, where his direct exposure to European modernist movements profoundly shaped his artistic outlook and gave him the transatlantic sensibility that would inform his entire career.

In the early 1960s, Miller became affiliated with the Spiral Group, the collective of prominent Black artists that included Romare Bearden and Norman Lewis. This group sought to explore how Black artists could respond to the Civil Rights Movement through visual expression, and it produced some of the most significant American art of the decade. Miller's work during this period drew deeply on themes of social justice and identity, expressed through vibrant color, dynamic abstraction, and richly layered compositions that combined the language of contemporary American modernism with the political and cultural concerns of the movement.

Miller's career was marked by both national and international recognition, with exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. He also took part in the 1964 Copenhagen show Ten American Negro Artists Living and Working in Europe, a testament to his global reach and to the important role African American expatriate artists played within the broader postwar European art community.

In addition to his studio practice, Miller taught at the University of Washington from 1969 onward, where he mentored young artists and continued to shape the field for decades. His work stands out for its fusion of modernist aesthetics with African American cultural and political themes, securing his place in twentieth-century American art history.