Lewis Miller Self-portrait III

Lewis Miller was represented in the 2000 and 2001 Archibald Prize with a self-portrait. One was a very long, narrow painting over six panels – ‘very slimming!’ quips Miller. The other was based on an early Picasso self-portrait. ‘I was thinking about what I could do to make the third different again and I shuddered when I realised how!’ he says with a laugh.

Miller had never painted a nude self-portrait before, although he has painted plenty of nudes, so he did a small study, which informed this painting. He worked with a mirror and the portrait came together fairly easily over two weeks. ‘I tried to be as detached as possible, just looking at a body,’ he says. ‘It would be so easy to bring in personal things. I thought it worked as a nice little oil painting, which is my primary concern, so I just let it go and am not embarrassed.’

Born in Melbourne in 1959, Miller studied at the Victorian College of the Arts. He has been an Archibald finalist on 11 previous occasions, winning the prize in 1998 with a portrait of artist Allan Mitelman. He also won the Art Gallery of NSW’s Sporting Portrait Prize, held in conjunction with the 2000 Archibald, for a portrait of Australian rules football player and coach Ron Barassi.

Miller’s 2004 self-portrait is now in the University of Queensland Art Collection.