We acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the Country on which the Art Gallery of NSW stands.

Title

Nude and the moon

(1954-1959)

Artist

Godfrey Miller

Australia

20 Aug 1893 – 10 May 1964

Details

Place where the work was made

Paddington → Sydney → New South Wales → Australia

Date

(1954-1959)

Media category

Painting

Materials used

oil, pen and black ink on canvas

Dimensions

61.6 x 104.2 cm stretcher; 64.3 x 107.3 x 4.0 cm frame

Signature & date

Signed l.r. corner, pen and black ink "Godfrey Miller". Not dated.

Credit

Gift of the Art Gallery Society of New South Wales 1959

Location

South Building, ground level, 20th-century galleries

Accession number

OA25.1959

Copyright

© Estate of Godfrey Miller
Reproduction requests

Artist information

Godfrey Miller
Artist profile

Works in the collection

56

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About

To contemplate 'Nude and the moon' is to observe a dark crystal; multi-faceted, multi-dimensional, both schematic and fluid, intellectual and mystical, calm and tremulous. The structure of the work is governed by an extraordinary geometric network of ruled lines, which traverse the surface in a complex web of multi-directional flows.

In these, colour is laid down meticulously yet expressively, in numberless small squares and diamonds which thinly stain the surface, creating vibrations of light. Miller inherited a structure of seeing from Paul Cézanne and the cubists, but he was also drawn to Eastern and Indian cosmological thought. In combining these influences, he succeeded in evolving formal equivalents for his philosophical vision of cosmic unity.
Places

Where the work was made

Paddington
Exhibition history
Shown in 11 exhibitions
- Godfrey Miller 1957, Macquarie Galleries, Sydney, 07 Jul 1957–17 Jul 1957
- Godfrey Miller Retrospective Exhibition, National Gallery of Victoria [Swanston Street], Melbourne, 10 Jun 1959–17 Jul 1959
- Recent Australian Painting, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, Jun 1961–Jul 1961
- Godfrey Miller, East Sydney Technical College, , 24 Oct 1962–25 Oct 1962
- 1940-1965: The heroic years of Australian painting, Melbourne Town Hall, Melbourne, 02 Apr 1977–20 Apr 1977
  
  1940-1965: The heroic years of Australian painting, Sale Regional Art Gallery, Australia, 29 Apr 1977–20 May 1977
  
  1940-1965: The heroic years of Australian painting, Art Gallery of Ballarat, Ballarat, 27 May 1977–17 Jun 1977
  
  1940-1965: The heroic years of Australian painting, Warrnambool Art Gallery, Warrnambool, 24 Jun 1977–15 Jul 1977
  
  1940-1965: The heroic years of Australian painting, Shepparton Art Museum, Australia, 22 Jul 1977–08 Aug 1977
  
  1940-1965: The heroic years of Australian painting, Hamilton Art Gallery, Hamilton, 12 Aug 1977–02 Sep 1977
  
  1940-1965: The heroic years of Australian painting, Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria, 16 Sep 1977–07 Oct 1977
  
  1940-1965: The heroic years of Australian painting, Mildura Arts Centre, Mildura, 14 Oct 1977–04 Nov 1977
  
  1940-1965: The heroic years of Australian painting, Benalla Art Gallery, Australia, 11 Nov 1977–02 Dec 1977
  
  1940-1965: The heroic years of Australian painting, Mornington Peninsula Arts Centre, , 09 Dec 1977–20 Jan 1978
  
  1940-1965: The heroic years of Australian painting, Ararat Gallery, Ararat, 27 Jan 1978–17 Feb 1978
  
  1940-1965: The heroic years of Australian painting, Geelong Gallery, Geelong, 24 Feb 1978–17 Mar 1978
  
  1940-1965: The heroic years of Australian painting, La Trobe Regional Gallery, Morwell, 24 Mar 1978–14 Apr 1978
- The heroic years of Australian painting 1940-1965, Melbourne Herald, , 30 Apr 1977–31 Aug 1978
- Two hundred years of Australian painting : Nature, people and art in the southern continent, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Japan, 28 Apr 1992–28 Jun 1992
  
  Two hundred years of Australian painting : Nature, people and art in the southern continent, The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Kyoto, 14 Jul 1992–06 Sep 1992
- Godfrey Miller, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 15 Mar 1996–05 May 1996
  
  Godfrey Miller, National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road], Melbourne, 15 May 1996–17 Jun 1996
- Leaping boundaries: a century of New Zealand artists in Australia, Mosman Art Gallery, Mosman, 09 Jun 2001–17 Jul 2001
- Parallel Visions: Twenty-two artists from the Australian collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 22 Feb 2002–May 2003
- 20th-Century galleries, ground level (rehang), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 20 Aug 2022–2023
Bibliography
Referenced in 41 publications
- Donald Brook, The Canberra times, 'Cosmos revealed', pg. 11, Ainslie, 20 Aug 1966, 11.
- Craig Bush, Look, 'Years of enrichment: The society reaches another milestone', pg. 12-15, Sydney, May 2009, 12 (colour illus.), 13, 14.
- Douglas Dundas, Antique News and Sales, 'Godfrey Miller and his art', pg. 8, Jul 1975, 8.
- Geoffrey Dutton, The Innovators: the Sydney alternatives in the rise of modern art, literature and ideas, 1986, 80.
- Deborah Edwards, Godfrey Miller, Sydney, 1996, 3 (colour illus.), 11-14, 56, 60, 123. plate no. 1
- Deborah Edwards, Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 'Mosaic and figure', pg. 213-214, Sydney, 2000, 217 (colour illus.), 301.
- James Gleeson, Australian Painters, 1976, 296.
- James Gleeson, The Herald Melbourne, 17 Jun 1959, 20.
- James Gleeson, Art and Australia [vol. 1, no. 1], 'Painting in Australia since 1945', pg. 12, Sydney, May 1963, 12.
- James Gleeson, Sun-Herald, 'Book brings coming of age', pg. 92, Sydney, 31 Jul 1966, 92.
- James Gleeson, Masterpieces of Australian painting, Melbourne, 1969, 125 (colour illus.). NOTE: Dated 1954-1959
- James Gleeson, Modern Painters 1931-1970, 1970. plate no. 20
- Sasha Grishin, Australian art: a history, 'The competitive spirit in Australian art', pg. 350-363, Carlton, 2013, 352, 354 (colour illus.), 551, 565. plate no. 34.2
- Sasha Grishin, Parallel visions: works from the Australian collection, 'Roger Kemp / Godfrey Miller', pg. 104-115, Sydney, 2002, 106, 115 (colour illus.), 145, 147.
- Christopher Heathcote, Encounters with Australian modern art, 'Reconstruction culture 1945-1962', pg. 9-56, South Yarra, 2008, 30, 31 (colour illus.). NOTE: Two related works reproduced: 'Nude and the moon' circa 1961-1964, TarraWarra Museum of Art; 'Nude and the moon' circa 1962, private collection.
- John Henshaw (Editor), Godfrey Miller, Sydney, 1965, (colour illus.). plate no. 33; NOTE: Dated 1954-58
- Rodney James, Letters to a critic: Alan McCulloch's world of art, Carlton, 2023, n.pag. (colour illus.). Photo insert not paginated.
- Judith Laurence, Look, 'Society Gifts: The Nude and the Moon', pg. 22, Heidelberg, Sep 1989, 22 (colour illus.). NOTE: Dated 1954-1958
- Tony MacDougall (Editor), Australian Encyclopaedia Vol. 1, Sydney, 1996, 282 (colour illus.).
- Macquarie Galleries, (Godfrey Miller), Sydney, 1957. possibly cat.no. 1; titled 'Nude and the Moon'
- Alan McCulloch, The heroic years of Australian painting, 1940-1965: the Herald exhibition, Melbourne, 1977, 32 (colour illus.). cat.no. 39
- Alan McCulloch, Encyclopedia of Australian art (vol 2), Victoria, 1984, (colour illus.). plate no. 14
- Ronald Millar, Civilized magic: an interpretive guide to Australian paintings, Toorak, 1974, 36-39, (colour illus.). plate no. 37; NOTE: Dated 1954-1958
- Hal Missingham (Director), Purchases and acquisitions for 1959, Sydney, 1959, 10 (illus.).
- Les Moseley., Look, 'From the Society President', Sydney, May 2015, 11.
- Laura Murray, Great Australian paintings, New South Wales, 1989, 53 (colour illus.).
- Barry Pearce, Look: 1953-2003 celebrating 50 years, 'Presenting our own artists: how the AGS put balance into the Australian collection', pg. 42-44, Sydney, May 2003, 42 (colour illus.).
- Barry Pearce and Haruo Arikawa, Two hundred years of Australian painting: nature, people and art in the southern continent, Tokyo, 1992, 152 (colour illus.). cat.no. 95
- Simon Pierse, Art and Australia (Vol. 42, No. 2), 'Recent Australian painting: Australian artists in London in 1961', pg. 226-235, Sydney, Dec 2004-Feb 2005, 232.
- John Douglas Pringle, Australian Painting Today, London, 1963, 79.
- Ernest Smith., Art New Zealand, 'Memories of three New Zealand expatriate painters', Auckland, 1976-1977. NOTE: Dated 1954-1958
- Sotheby's Australia, Sotheby's Melbourne: important Australian art (24 & 25 August 2009), Melbourne, 2009, 74.
- Jill Sykes (Editor), Look, Sydney, Oct 2006, 33 (colour illus.).
- Martin Terry, Masterpieces of Australian Painting, Sydney, 1984, 109 (colour illus.).
- Laurie Thomas, Modern Australian painting and sculpture: a survey of Australian art from 1950-1960, 'Introduction', pg. 1-10, Adelaide, 1960, 20 (colour illus.). NOTE: Collection: in possession of the artist
- Laurie Thomas (Editor), 200 Years of Australian painting, Rushcutters Bay, 1971, 75 (colour illus.).
- Whitechapel Art Gallery (Compilator), Recent Australian Painting, London, 1961, (illus.). cat.no. 64, plate no. XXIII
- Judith White, art lovers: the story of the Art Gallery Society of New South Wales 1953-2013, 'Chapter One: Opening the doors 1953-1960', pp.19-40, Sydney, 2013, 35, 36, 155, 194-195 (colour illus.), 196 (colour illus.).
- Donald Williams, In our own image: the story of Australian art, Sydney, 2002, 99, 100 (colour illus.).
- Donald Williams, In our own image: the story of Australian art, Sydney, 1995, 146 (colour illus.).
- Important Australian art, Sydney, 28 Aug 2018, 110 (colour illus.).

Other works by Godfrey Miller

Dusk, Warrandyte Godfrey Miller circa 1924 137.2005

Standing male Godfrey Miller 1950s 183.2018

Still life Godfrey Miller 184.2018

Horse Study 1 Godfrey Miller circa 1958-circa 1964 185.2018.1

See all 56 works