{"title":"Alfred Jacob Miller","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"karl-bodmer-1809-1893-pehriska-ruhpa-moennitarri-warrior-in-the-costume-of-the-dog-danse-tab-28-23-state-2-copy","title":"MILLER, Alfred Jacob (1857-1926) Lake in the Wind River Mountains c 1837","description":"\u003cp\u003eMILLER, Alfred Jacob (1857-1926)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLake in the Wind River Mountains\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSigned \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMiller \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e(lower left)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGouache, watercolor and pencil on paper\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e9 ⅛ by 12 ⅞ in.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eExecuted c. 1837.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"355\"\u003eThe present work was likely executed in 1837 on a trip to the Rocky Mountain West that Miller took with his friend, Sir William Drummond Stewart, a Scottish soldier and sportsman. This was one of several watercolors that Miller produced depicting the stunning landscapes he witnessed during his pivotal trip, the only time in his life he ever went West.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"357\" data-end=\"1454\"\u003e“The tourist who journeys to Europe in search of a new sensation, but by this time find that his vocation is nearly gone. Italy and its wonders have been described so often that they begin to pale. Egypt, the River Nile, Cairo, and the pyramids have been ‘done’ to death. Greece and her antiquities are as familiar as household words. What will the enterprising traveller do under these untoward circumstances? Well, here is a new field for him. These mountain Lakes have been waiting for him for thousands of years, and could afford to wait thousands of years longer, for they are now as fresh and beautiful as if just from the hands of the Creator. In all probability, when we saw them not 20 white men had ever stood on their borders, A single Lake and Mont Blanc are the wonders of Europe, but here are mountains and lakes reaching from Tehuantepec to the Frozen Ocean in the North, or upwards of 50 degrees, nearly one seventh part of the globe, ample room and verge enough, one would think, for a legion of tourists.” — A.J. Miller, extracted from “The West of Alfred Jacob Miller” (1837).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Arader Galleries","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45280324714540,"sku":null,"price":125000.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1156\/7956\/files\/Miller_LakeintheWindRiverMountains.jpg?v=1771178216"},{"product_id":"miller-alfred-jacob-1857-1926-rocky-formations-near-the-nebraska-or-platte-river","title":"MILLER, Alfred Jacob (1857-1926) Rocky Formations near the Nebraska or Platte River","description":"\u003cp\u003eMILLER, Alfred Jacob (1857-1926)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eRocky Formations near the Nebraska or Platte River\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eTitled\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e(upper right); inscribed (upper left)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eProperty from the Collection of Ambassador J. William Middendorf II, Rhode Island\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGouache, watercolor, pencil and ink on paper\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e7 ½ by 11 ⅞ in.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"209\" data-end=\"732\"\u003eThis scene, given its imprecise description as taking place near the Nebraska or Platte River, was likely created by memory years after his momentous journey west in 1837. Though Miller was known for taking direct inspiration from his travels, his depiction of the five Native Americans in this composition, galloping across the plain and dwarfed by the enormity of their surroundings, evidences the more Romantic lens through which he viewed the West, and particularly his view of native people’s connection with nature.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"734\" data-end=\"1309\"\u003eIndebted to the 18th-century English tradition of the picturesque landscape, Miller carefully arranges the composition around two mountainous landforms cast in contrasting light and shadow. Having had ample opportunity to observe Joseph Mallord William Turner’s work during the height of his popularity with midcentury American artists, Miller also took direct inspiration from the English landscape painter’s evocative depictions of the sublimity of nature’s spirit. Such influence is particularly evident in the present work with Miller’s atmospheric handling of the sky.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1311\" data-end=\"1930\"\u003eMargaret C. Conrads writes in the exhibition catalogue for \u003cem data-start=\"1370\" data-end=\"1445\"\u003eRomancing the West: Alfred Jacob Miller in the Bank of America Collection\u003c\/em\u003e (2010–2011): “Emphasizing the solidity of the formations and juxtaposing them against an open sky and a high mountain backdrop, Miller endowed the scene inspired by the landscape near Laramie with his initial wonder at their endurance beyond anything in human history” (Exh. Cat., Kansas City, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and Philadelphia Museum of Art, \u003cem data-start=\"1834\" data-end=\"1909\"\u003eAlfred Jacob Miller: Romancing the West in the Bank of America Collection\u003c\/em\u003e, 2010–11, p. 124).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1932\" data-end=\"1944\"\u003eProvenance\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul data-start=\"1945\" data-end=\"2463\"\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"1945\" data-end=\"2030\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1947\" data-end=\"2030\"\u003eEugenia Miller Whyte or Louisa Whyte Norton (acquired by descent from the artist)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"2031\" data-end=\"2097\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2033\" data-end=\"2097\"\u003eThe Old Print Shop, New York (acquired from the above in 1947)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"2098\" data-end=\"2174\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2100\" data-end=\"2174\"\u003eThe Boatman’s National Bank, St. Louis (acquired from the above in 1947)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"2175\" data-end=\"2255\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2177\" data-end=\"2255\"\u003eNationsBank, Charlotte (acquired from the above by corporate merger in 1996)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"2256\" data-end=\"2340\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2258\" data-end=\"2340\"\u003eBank of America, Charlotte (acquired from the above by corporate merger in 1998)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"2341\" data-end=\"2411\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2343\" data-end=\"2411\"\u003eSotheby’s, New York, 22 May 2013, lot 101 (consigned by the above)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"2412\" data-end=\"2463\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2414\" data-end=\"2463\"\u003eAcquired at the above sale by the present owner\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2465\" data-end=\"2476\"\u003eExhibited\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul data-start=\"2477\" data-end=\"2772\"\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"2477\" data-end=\"2533\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2479\" data-end=\"2533\"\u003eSt. Louis, The Boatman’s National Bank, 1964, no. 48\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"2534\" data-end=\"2772\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2536\" data-end=\"2772\"\u003eKansas City, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and Philadelphia Museum of Art, \u003cem data-start=\"2643\" data-end=\"2718\"\u003eAlfred Jacob Miller: Romancing the West in the Bank of America Collection\u003c\/em\u003e, 2010–11, no. 25, pp. 124–125, illustrated in color\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Arader Galleries","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45280352403500,"sku":null,"price":185000.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1156\/7956\/files\/Miller_RockyFormationsneartheNebraskaorPlatteRiver.jpg?v=1771178290"},{"product_id":"miller-alfred-jacob-1857-1926-schim-a-co-che-high-lance-crow","title":"MILLER, Alfred Jacob (1857-1926) Schim-a-co che High-Lance Crow. C. 1860","description":"\u003cp\u003eMILLER, Alfred Jacob (1857-1926)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eSchim-a-co che High-Lance Crow\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOil on paper, mounted to board.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCirca 1860.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOval: 11 ¾” x 10 ¼”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCaptioned at lower-center in paint: “Schim-a-co che\/ High-Lance\/ Crow” with the final line expanded in ink to “A [Crow] Indian”. Numbered “108” in graphite at lower-left. A signed conservator’s photograph mounted to a letter mounted to the back of the board records the now-obscured inscription (in the same hand as the painted title) verso: “Schim-a-co-che\/ High Lance\/ Crow”.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA very little peripheral darkening, with a small chip at the upper edge. Remarkably well-preserved, with impasto in the clouds at right and to the figure’s jewelry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eProvenance\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe collection of the artist\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cem\u003eby descent from the above to\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eMr. L. Vernon Miller,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003ethe artist’s grand-nephew\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cem\u003eby inheritance from the above to\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eMrs. L. Vernon Miller (Katherine, ca. 1965)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGraham Gallery, New York, NY, no. 28818\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGerald Peters (The Peters Corporation), Santa Fe, NM\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cem\u003econserved\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e20 September 1978 by Gustav A. Berger\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cem\u003eby acquisition from the above to\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003eThe John F. Eulich Collection of American Western Art, Dallas, TX (1980)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cem\u003esold (by the above?) at Sotheby’s New York 3 December 1998, lot 177, into a\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003ePrivate collection\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlfred Jacob Miller (1810–1874) was a Baltimore-born Paris-trained painter celebrated for his depictions of the people and landscape of the American interior. Although later life would see him settle in Baltimore as a portrait-painter, Miller in his late twenties set out for New Orleans and accompanied the queer Scottish aristocrat Sir William Drummond Stewart to the Rockies. There he the chance to draw the wild men of the fur trade as well as western Native Americans in the late 1830’s — just as they were being pushed to the margins by white settlement.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn July 1858, the railroad magnate William Thompson Walters commissioned 200 portraits from Miller (at $12 each), and a picture of the subject, also numbered 108, is at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. Miller commonly made multiple iterations of a single subject, and three — all watercolor and gouache on paper — are recorded of Shim-a-co-che (the usual orthography) in addition to the present work:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Walters\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/art.thewalters.org\/object\/37.1940.39\/\"\u003e37.1940.39\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e(Tyler 299A)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Gilcrease Museum\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/collections.gilcrease.org\/object\/021024\"\u003e02.1024\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e(Tyler 299)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Library and Archives of Canada\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/central.bac-lac.gc.ca\/.redirect?app=fonandcol\u0026amp;id=2833868\u0026amp;lang=eng\u0026amp;ecopy=c000404k\"\u003e2833868\/1946-111 PIC\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e(Tyler 299B)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present picture (Tyler 299C, mistakenly called “Oil on board”) differs in medium: oil on paper. Whereas watercolors and gouache could be easily used in the field, or else in rough circumstances, oil paint was traditionally made by the artist in their studio (the storage and sale of oil paint in metal tubes was patented in 1841, but traditionalists such as Miller were resistant). Thus an oil painting represents the culmination of a longer process for which the above pictures might be understood to be preparatory. Indeed, Miller’s having kept the picture throughout his life suggests that it was a work of  which he was particularly proud. Comparison of the four versions shows just how much more refined the oil composition is.\u003cimg\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1156\/7956\/files\/Picture1_1bbd26f7-0e77-4dbf-9428-dabfe41ba2dc.png?v=1771619060\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe work was perhaps from what has come to be known the “L. Vernon Miller Family Album,” an assemblage kept by his grand-nephew L. Vernon Miller of Baltimore. As with many of these, the work passed to Miller’s widow and was then dispersed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTyler, Ron, ed.\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eAlfred Jacob Miller: Artist of the Oregon Trail.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eFort Worth, TX: Amon Carter Museum, 1982: 299C (p. 299).\u003cbr\u003eRick Stewart. \u003cem\u003eThe American West: Legendary Artists of the Frontier\u003c\/em\u003e. Dallas, 1986: pp. 18-19, illustrated.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Arader Galleries","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45280356958252,"sku":null,"price":475000.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1156\/7956\/files\/medium_6384-377472-9_2.jpg?v=1770918210"},{"product_id":"miller-alfred-jacob-1857-1926-indians-in-pursuit-c-1838","title":"MILLER, Alfred Jacob (1857-1926) Indians in Pursuit C. 1838","description":"\u003cp data-end=\"62\" data-start=\"0\"\u003eAlfred Jacob Miller (1810–1874)\u003cbr data-end=\"38\" data-start=\"35\"\u003eIndians in Pursuit\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"62\" data-start=\"0\"\u003esigned (lower right)\u003cbr data-end=\"87\" data-start=\"84\"\u003ewatercolor on paper\u003cbr data-end=\"109\" data-start=\"106\"\u003ec. 1838\u003cbr data-end=\"119\" data-start=\"116\"\u003e8 1\/2” x 11 1\/2” sight; 16” x 19” framed\u003cbr data-end=\"162\" data-start=\"159\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"550\" data-start=\"174\"\u003eAlfred Jacob Miller, born in Baltimore on January 2, 1810, to George Washington Miller and Harriet Jacob, was one of the earliest trained artists to cross the Great Plains. Following study in Paris and Rome in 1833, the young Miller returned to Baltimore and established a studio. After his parents died, Miller left Baltimore and moved to New Orleans in the spring of 1837.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"953\" data-start=\"552\"\u003eThat is where he met Capt. William Drummond Stewart, the second son of Scottish nobility, veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, sportsman, and a seasoned traveler who had attended the annual rendezvous of fur trappers and traders in the Rocky Mountains on several occasions. Stewart planned to attend the 1837 rendezvous and, thinking that it might be his last, employed young Miller to document the trip.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"1817\" data-start=\"955\"\u003eMiller arrived in St. Louis in April 1837. There he visited with Gov. William Clark, the prominent explorer and superintendent of Indian Affairs, and spent time in Clark's museum in preparation for the trip. Stewart and Miller left Westport in May, along with forty five men and twenty carts loaded with trade goods to exchange for pelts at the rendezvous. They followed the Kansas and Little Blue Rivers to the Platte River, with Miller documenting every segment of the trip. They took the North Fork of the Platte past Chimney Rock, Scotts Bluff, and Fort Laramie, all of which Miller rendered in colorful watercolor. He also depicted Independence Rock, Devils Gate, Split Rock on the Sweetwater River, and the Continental Divide, arriving, finally, at Horse Creek in the Wind River Mountains, where trappers and Indians had gathered for the 1837 rendezvous.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"2268\" data-start=\"1819\"\u003eMiller remained at the rendezvous for about three weeks. Following another couple of weeks hunting in the mountains with Stewart, Miller returned to New Orleans to begin working on the paintings that Stewart had commissioned. Stewart, meanwhile, had learned that his older brother John had died, that he had inherited the family estates and titles, and that he must soon return to Murthly Castle, the family estate just outside of Perth, Scotland.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"2913\" data-start=\"2270\"\u003eMiller had made dozens of sketches. From them he first prepared a small album of eighty-seven wash and watercolor sketches for Stewart and then set to work on several large oil paintings that Stewart intended as decoration for Murthly. Stewart loaned eighteen of Miller's oils to the Apollo Gallery in New York for exhibition from May to July 1839 before shipping them to Scotland. Miller accepted Stewart's invitation to come to Murthly to continue his painting and remained there for approximately a year, painting both western and religious scenes. He returned to Baltimore in the spring of 1842 and spent the remainder of his life there.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"3424\" data-start=\"2915\"\u003eThe 1837 trip was the only western journey that Miller made, but he kept his field sketches and continued to fulfill commissions from them throughout his life. The most notable commission was that of William T. Walters, who ordered 200 watercolors from 1858 to 1860. Miller also sold several paintings to Charles Wilkins Weber that were chromo-lithographed for his books, \u003cem data-end=\"3365\" data-start=\"3287\"\u003eThe Hunter-Naturalist: Romance of Sporting; or, Wild Scenes and Wild Hunters\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem data-end=\"3421\" data-start=\"3370\"\u003eThe Hunter-Naturalist: Wild Scenes and Song-Birds\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"3592\" data-start=\"3426\"\u003eMiller saw the West through the lens of the romantic artist, depicting the many Indians at the rendezvous as noble savages and the Plains and mountains as a garden.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"4713\" data-start=\"3594\"\u003eFor Miller, the depiction of Indians on horseback represented the natives in their most charismatic form. Miller writes “one cannot fail to be impressed with their admirable horsemanship, and that such subjects originally gave birth to the conception of the fabled Centaur” \u003cem data-end=\"3909\" data-start=\"3868\"\u003eThe West of Alfred Jacob Miller (1837).\u003c\/em\u003e It is unsurprising then that the image of a power Sioux warrior gliding through the plains on a majestic white horse, as is found in \u003cem data-end=\"4063\" data-start=\"4043\"\u003eIndians in Pursuit\u003c\/em\u003e, was a popular subject in Miller’s oeuvre. The present work bares resemblance to the Museum of Fine Arts Boston’s \u003cem data-end=\"4194\" data-start=\"4178\"\u003eOn the Warpath\u003c\/em\u003e (right), though more developed and with slight compositional amendments. While the forefront figure remains similar, the secondary figures have been spread further apart and reduced in size so as to not take away from the protagonist. Notably a framing tree has been introduced to the left margin to better ground the scene and inject suspense into the vignette. These adjustments appear nearly identically in \u003cem data-end=\"4627\" data-start=\"4605\"\u003eSioux Reconnoitreing\u003c\/em\u003e, commissioned for William T. Walters (1858–1860) and now in the Walters Art Museum.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"4713\" data-start=\"3594\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1156\/7956\/files\/Picture6.png?v=1771622686\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Arader Galleries","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45313195507756,"sku":null,"price":325000.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1156\/7956\/files\/Miller_IndiansinPursuit.jpg?v=1771622766"},{"product_id":"miller-alfred-jacob-1857-1926-caravan-en-route","title":"MILLER, Alfred Jacob (1857-1926) Caravan - En Route. C. 1838","description":"\u003cp data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"171\"\u003eAlfred Jacob Miller (1810–1874)\u003cbr data-start=\"31\" data-end=\"34\"\u003eCaravan—En Route\u003cbr data-start=\"50\" data-end=\"53\"\u003esigned (lower left) with initials in monogram “AJM”\u003cbr data-start=\"104\" data-end=\"107\"\u003ewatercolor, gouache and pen on paper\u003cbr data-start=\"143\" data-end=\"146\"\u003e5 ¼” x 9 ½”\u003cbr data-start=\"157\" data-end=\"160\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"173\" data-end=\"601\"\u003eAlfred Jacob Miller’s Caravan—En Route was inspired by his 1837 expedition to the Rocky Mountains in the company of Sir William Drummond Stewart. The composition presents a measured procession of mounted travelers and pack animals traversing an expansive terrain. The figures, rendered with refined clarity, move laterally across a broad, luminous landscape, their quiet progress underscoring the vastness that surrounds them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"603\" data-end=\"1199\"\u003eMiller’s restrained palette of subtle earth tones set against delicate gradations of sky creates a scene of serenity. Rather than dramatizing the frontier, the artist emphasizes rhythm, space, and balance, integrating the caravan harmoniously within its environment. A signature of Miller’s, the plains are segmented in depth by undulations of light and dark. The result is a work that is both documentary and evocative, capturing the contemplative dimension of westward travel while affirming Miller’s role as one of the earliest and most perceptive interpreters of the trans-Mississippi West.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1201\" data-end=\"1841\"\u003eThe subject of the winding fur trade caravan was of particular interest to Miller, interpreted repeatedly in his works and almost invariably executed as a curving and trailing line set amongst the vast empty plains. In the foreground Miller frequently paints an arrangement of Native Americans looking out towards the caravan. In an accompanying note to a similar caravan scene held by the Walters Art Museum, Miller writes that “the Indian lingers to the last moment around the camp fire,–he neither enters into or sympathizes with our diligence, and seems to regret that stern necessity forces him to accept our company for his convoy.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1201\" data-end=\"1841\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1156\/7956\/files\/Picture5_cf0699c4-b1a9-4519-b765-8a74a8180db9.png?v=1771619860\" alt=\"\" width=\"421\" height=\"656\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1843\" data-end=\"1855\"\u003eProvenance\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul data-start=\"1856\" data-end=\"2237\"\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"1856\" data-end=\"1871\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1858\" data-end=\"1871\"\u003eThe artist.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"1872\" data-end=\"1937\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1874\" data-end=\"1937\"\u003eLouisa Whyte Norton, Baltimore, Maryland, niece of the above.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"1938\" data-end=\"2010\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1940\" data-end=\"2010\"\u003eEugenia Whyte Carton Dixon, Baltimore, Maryland, niece of the above.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"2011\" data-end=\"2076\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2013\" data-end=\"2076\"\u003ePrivate collection, Massachusetts, by descent from the above.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"2077\" data-end=\"2115\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2079\" data-end=\"2115\"\u003ePrivate collection, Ada, Michigan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"2116\" data-end=\"2161\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2118\" data-end=\"2161\"\u003ePrivate collection, Santa Fe, New Mexico.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-start=\"2162\" data-end=\"2237\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2164\" data-end=\"2237\"\u003eJackson Hole Art Auction, Jackson, Wyoming, 20 September 2008, lot 202.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Arader Galleries","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45313208909868,"sku":null,"price":250000.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1156\/7956\/files\/Miller_CaravanEnRoute.png?v=1771622837"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1156\/7956\/collections\/Screenshot_2026-02-19_at_3.40.23_PM.png?v=1771544486","url":"https:\/\/aradernyc.com\/collections\/alfred-jacob-miller.oembed","provider":"Arader Galleries","version":"1.0","type":"link"}