Alfred Jacob Miller (January 2, 1810 – June 26, 1874) was an American artist best known for his paintings of trappers and Native Americans in the fur trade of the western United States. He also painted numerous portraits and genre paintings in and around Baltimore during the mid-nineteenth century.
Alfred Jacob Miller | |
|---|---|
 Self-Portrait, c. 1850 | |
| Born | January 2, 1810 Baltimore, Maryland |
| Died | June 26, 1874 (aged 64) Baltimore, Maryland |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Painting |
| Notable work | The Trapper's Bride The Lost Greenhorn Attack by Crow Indians Breakfast at Sunrise and others |
Life
editMiller was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the eldest of nine children of George W. and Harriet J. Miller. Miller's father was a merchant and tavern keeper in central Baltimore, and also had a farm in Hawkins Point. Miller attended a private school in Baltimore, John D. Craig's Academy, but did not receive formal art instruction there.[1] He may have received his first lessons in art from Thomas Sully.[2] In 1832, with the financial support of his family and art patrons in Baltimore, Miller traveled to Paris to study art. He was admitted as an auditor to life drawing classes at the École des Beaux-Arts, and copied paintings in the collections of the Louvre.[3] In 1833, he traveled to Italy, visiting Bologna, Florence, and Venice before settling in Rome, where he studied at the English Life School.[3] During his travels in Europe, he became friends with the Danish sculptor Bertel Thorwaldsen and studied with the French painter Horace Vernet.[4]
He returned to Baltimore in 1834, where he opened a downtown studio and advertised himself as a painter of portraits and Old Master copies.[5] Professional and financial difficulties may have prompted his decision to move to New Orleans in 1837.[6] The city was a relatively open market for artists, and Miller quickly established a studio on Chartes Street and began receiving orders for portraits. It was in his studio that he met the Scottish aristocrat and adventurer, Sir William Drummond Stewart.
Stewart hired Miller to accompany him and record his hunting journey to the Rocky Mountains.[7] That same year, along with representatives of the American Fur Company, they ventured as far as Fort William and Green River.
After returning to New Orleans later that year, Miller started working up his sketches in watercolors and oils. The scenes and incidents of the hunting journey were the foundation of a series of paintings documenting Native Americans of the United States. In July 1838 Miller was able to arrange an exhibition in New Orleans. In October 1840 he traveled with his paintings to Stewart's Murthly Castle in Scotland, where a collection of his commissioned work was ultimately hung.
After spending a year in Scotland and another in London, Miller returned to Baltimore in April 1842. He established himself as an acknowledged portrait artist in the city. He died on June 26, 1874.
Paintings
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The Lost Greenhorn, 1858–1860, Walters Art Museum
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Attack by Crow Indians, 1858–1860, Walters Art Museum
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Breakfast at Sunrise, 1858–1860, Walters Art Museum
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Old Bill Williams, 1839
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The Lake Her Lone Bosom Expands to the Sky, 1850, Dallas Museum of Art
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Camp Scene (Sioux), 1858–1860, Walters Art Museum
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Yell of Triumph, 1858-1860, Walters Art Museum
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Cavelcade, 1858–1860, Walters Art Museum
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War Path
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Big Bowl (A Crow Chief), 1858–1860, Walters Art Museum
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Breaking up Camp at Sunrise, 1858–1860, Walters Art Museum
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Our Camp, 1858–1860, Walters Art Museum
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Fort Laramie, 1858–1860, Walters Art Museum
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"L' Aiguille du Dru prise du Montenvers"
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Hunting Buffalo, 1858-1860, Walters Art Museum
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Lassoing Wild Horses
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Landscape with Snake Indians
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Escape from Blackfeet, Walters Art Museum, 1860
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Trapper, depicting Moses "Black" Harris, 1850
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After the "Slap Up" Party of Last Night!, Walters Art Museum
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"Don't Give Up That Ship!", a depiction of the death of Captain James Lawrence, circa 1840, Walters Art Museum
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7th Baronet of Blair, a depiction of Miller's patron William Drummond Stewart, 1837
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Portrait of Antoine, circa 1840, a depiction of Antoine Clement, Miller's guide during his 1837 expedition with Stewart
Notes
edit- ^ Cooke, Gretchen (2002). "On the Trail of Alfred Jacob Miller". Maryland Historical Magazine. 97: 320.
- ^ Tyler, Ron (1982). Alfred J. Miller: Artist on the Oregon Trail. Fort Worth, Texas: Amon Carter Museum. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-88360-042-9.
- ^ a b Strong, Lisa (2008). Sentimental Journey: The Art of Alfred Jacob Miller. Fort Worth, Texas: Amon Carter Museum. p. 18. ISBN 9780883601051. OCLC 212376107.
- ^ Cooke, Gretchen (2002). "On the Trail of Alfred Jacob Miller". Maryland Historical Magazine. 97: 329.
- ^ Strong, Lisa (2008). Sentimental Journey: The Art of Alfred Jacob Miller. Fort Worth: Amon Carter Museum. p. 20.
- ^ Cooke, Gretchen (2002). "On the Trail of Alfred Jacob Miller". Maryland Historical Magazine. 97: 330.
- ^ Vestal, Stanley (1970). Jim Bridger; Mountain Man. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. p. 133. ISBN 9780803257207.
References
edit- Miller's Biographical Note
- Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). . New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
- Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
External links
edit- Works by or about Alfred Jacob Miller at the Internet Archive
- Alfred Jacob Miller manuscript and sketches, (undated and 1837 from the Archives of American Art
- William Drummond Stewart biography at 3rd1000.com
- American paintings & historical prints from the Middendorf collection, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Miller (no. 21)