With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
Emily Winthrop Miles
Sculpture
1893 – 1962
- Biography/Description of Work
A sculptor in bronze, terra cotta and aluminum, Emily Winthrop Miles studied under Daniel Chester French, Abastenia St. Leger Elberle, Brenda Putnam and Harriet W. Frishmuth. After eloping with the family chauffeur, Corey Lucian Miles, they bought a farm in Sharon in 1925 which they named Neverland. Here Emily not only sculpted, but wrote poetry, was a photographer and a collector of art and Wedgwood. During the 1920s through the 1940s, her work was exhibited at New York City galleries, the Art Institute of Chicago, National Association of Women Artists in New York, and the Fogg Museum at Harvard. Her large scale sculpture ‘Diana’ was exhibited at the American Pavillion at the New York World’s Fair of 1939. A work entitled ‘The Carpenter’ was modeled after a worker from West Cornwall. Upon her death, the estate was bequeathed to the National Audubon Society and became the Emily Winthrup Miles Wildlife Sanctuary.
- Sources view
- Uconn database, http://sharon.audubon.org/miles-wildlife-sanctuary, http://www.sharonhist.org/in-the-museum-miles-exhibit.htm, http://www.harvardartmuseums.org/art/search?field_artist_search=Emily%20Winthrop%20Miles, http://books.google.com/books?id=ii5tl8ZXSJUC&pg=PA68&lpg=PA68&dq=emily+winthrop+miles&source=bl&ots=Loq1Jav3Yl&sig=gb0Dz_k_zlYXAqHJDSAw9Lz2Ohk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Z2rNUtqSL8jMsASCgYHwDA&ved=0CEcQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=emily%20winthrop%20miles&f=false, http://www.upperhousatonicheritage.org/searchresult-detail.php?hs_id=75 Emily Winthrop Miles Article - New York Times - 1924-9-8, Emily Winthrop Miles Article - New York Times - 1924-9-12, Emily Winthrop Miles Article - New York Times - 1925-8-16, Emily Winthrop Miles Article - New York Times - 1938-9-29, Emily Winthrop Miles Elopement Article - New York Times - 1924-9-7
- Associated Resource(s)