Lilian May Miller (U.S.A. 1895-1943)

Lilian Miller was the child of American diplomats living in Tokyo, at a time when lives were lived conventionally.  After living in Japan, and then the USA, she moved to Korea when her father was named the American Consul General there.  She studied art in Japan under Bokusen Shimada, and the rest, as they say, is history.  Her works were popular amongst the diplomatic corps although most of her works were destroyed in the Great Kanto earthquake on September 1, 1923. 

It was clear that Miller was heavily influenced by her surroundings, and her art has always preserved this imprint.  Even in her most moderne pieces one feels the atmosphere of Asia that so clearly served as her inspiration.  Her interest was not simply in the techniques of woodblock printing, she also combined skil with colour in attempting to make prints that captured and copied the effects of the Japanese masters.  She devoted much time and attention to the mechanical process of reproduction of the prints, as well as the design of the print.  As regards composition and tone, Miller's prints were conceived very much in the Japanese spirit, but even during that time, her art never really departed from her favoured subjects, landscape and people. 

Among the works of women who worked in printmaking in Asia, Miller's works hold a high place, and although I personally prefer the works of Katharine Jowett, Miller's works are always looked for with the expectation that it will prove in fair measure, above the commonplace.  Her works recall the coloured cartoons, often comic in their purpose, drawn by Boutet de Manvel;  but none are other than serious productions picturing the ordinary images of life.  Both de Manvel and Miller were inspired by the Japanese, who long ago dared to use simple flat colours and bold lines in a way that Europe had not used for centuries past; therefore the resemblance of these pictures of Japanese prints is natural enough.  That resemplance is most pronounced in her works with people, and always the scenes are ordinary moments, the acts are ordinary everyday doings.