Old Water Mill

Charles Henry Miller

Old Water Mill was published in 1881 in the American Art Review, Sylvester R. Koehler

Known for his European-influenced work, Charles Henry Miller often depicted the landscapes and old villages of Long Island in the style of his Barbizon contemporaries. Wide, often moody skies over idyllic rural scenes held equal depth in his sketch-like etchings and oil paintings. Here, a tranquil pond reflects an old oak and a ramshackle structure, one of the many wooden mills found on Long Island at the time. A fisherman tries luck at the shadowed edge of the water, surrounded on all sides by lush, fallow fields.

Miller is considered by some to be the first American student to travel to Bavaria for his formal art education, opening the doors to many New World artists wanting to find connection in the storied architecture and landscapes of Europe.