“Beach Scenes” | Set of paintings for the Tavern Club

Edgar Miller
1938
Paint on board
Set of 4 | L 63.5, W 58.5 cm

A series of four paintings that Miller executed for his old friends and colleagues at The Tavern Club now hang throughout the Salon and the Mezzanine levels of the Glasner Studio. In all likelihood, Miller's first visit to the Tavern Club was in the early 1930s, perhaps as a guest of his friend Andrew Rebori. By the time Miller produced these paintings in 1938, he was himself a member of the club, having been inducted a few years earlier in partial exchange for his commissioned Love Through the Ages mural, executed for the club’s main dining room.

Miller was invited to paint this beach series for the club's main lounge that overlooked Michigan Avenue. They depict a series of seaside still lifes in a graphic, expressionist manner. The nautical theme is meant to give the lounge the feel of a ship at sea. The downtown Chicago club at 333 North Michigan Avenue was close to the water, and from its top floors patrons could enjoy a nearly 360 degree vista that overlooked the Chicago River and the Lake Michigan shoreline just down the street.

Two of the paintings portray different breeds of dogs who appear to act as sentinels; two others portray nude female figures admiring the landscape. One figure appears to be wringing out her wet hair, while the other is holding some kind of sea sponge which she may have just caught with the netting hanging from the tree behind her. A jolly and proud horse trots in the background along the shoreline; seashells litter the foreground. A boat is seen coming in from the sea, and many small details like the plants and the waves jump off the canvas through Miller's rapid brush strokes.

Four panel painting set of “Beach Scenes” produced for the Tavern Club Main Lounge - Edgar Miller - 1938 - Edgar Miller Legacy