Miller, Lilian (1895 - 1943), "Diamond Mountains, Korea - Summer"

Notes: This design was shown at the Art Institute of Chicago's "First International Exhibition of Lithography Wood Engraving" from December 5 to January 26, 1930.

Miller's most dynamic exploration of the dramatic formal effects achievable by radical simplification of subject, color variation and the hard-edges resulting from blunt block carving appears in the prints of the famous Diamond Mountains in different seasons and times of day. The Diamond Mountains, Korea series, centers on a design of two rocky peaks likely derived from a photograph Miller took of one spot in the mountains.

Upon this basic structure, Miller overprints green blocks for "Spring" - overprints blue for "Summer"; adds a block to create striations in the orange sky as well as orange-brown-red coloration for "Autumn"; substitutes a light orange sky with grey mountains and a new block for the mist at the mountain base for "Autumn Evening" - eliminates the striated block to create a grey sky and then uses white and dark grey (reversing the positive and negative forms of the other prints) to suggest the snow-covered mountains for winter - and, finally, adds a vivid orange striated sky to the "Winter" scene to create "Snowy Morning". Like with Hiroshi Yoshida's tour de force Inland Sea series from 1926, Miller was able to skillfully use a small range of colors to create a striking appearance to the entire series.

Provenance: Acquired directly from a descendant of the L.M. Miller family. This was accompanied with the entire family collection of remaining works; including original paintings, pencil sketches and one of a kind proofs.