Carl Vosburgh Miller, one of Stockton’s most beloved and respected artists passed away in 2004. However, the Haggin Museum was honored and deeply grateful when his widow, Cathy Miller, donated several hundred of her husband’s watercolor paintings and prints, as well as his sketchbooks, to the museum's fine art collection.
Over the years, the Haggin has displayed Carl’s paintings and prints in several different exhibitions. His works were regularly selected for the Stockton Art League Juried Exhibition at the museum. In 1997, the museum honored him with a special exhibition as part of its former Distinguished Artist Series, created to recognize artists with a link to San Joaquin County who had achieved national recognition in the art world. This retrospective of his work was a tribute to his artistic achievement.
One of the remarkable aspects of Miller’s career was his relatively late start as an artist. It wasn’t until he retired from the telephone company in 1978 that he had an opportunity to develop his talents as a painter. He participated in a number of workshops to strengthen his technical skill and began submitting works to local juried shows. His career soon took off.
Miller was primarily a water-colorist. He relished the challenge of this type of painting: “Pursuing the excitement of watercolor painting yields great rewards and difficult challenges. Uniqueness in colors and color combinations is a constant search which I find exhilarating…The water in watercolor produces a wonderful immediacy. When flooding the paper, events happen in rapid succession and I like it best when the paint is just a little out of control.”
Miller’s skill as a watercolor painter was widely recognized by his artistic colleagues. He earned signature status with the Midwest Watercolor Society, Watercolor Society West, and the American Watercolor Society.
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Always eager for new challenges, Miller experimented with other media, including woodblock prints and computer-assisted prints. He also turned his genius to developing aids, including extensions to paint brushes and modifications of easels, that enabled him to pursue his artistic career in spite of severe arthritis.
Carl Miller’s love of the local San Joaquin Delta is reflected in many of his paintings. The Delta’s waterways, bridges, and boats were common themes. He painted outdoors regularly: “Nearly everyday, I take my paint brush to the levee to try again to capture the mood and spirit of this elusive juncture of land and water. Encountering the delta in her many seasonal costumes gives new life to favorite locations.”
The paintings and prints donated to the museum include a large number of these Delta scenes. Miller was very versatile in his subject matter, however. The portfolios given to the museum also include portraits, nudes, and still-lives. It is a privilege for the museum to have this opportunity to preserve these works for others to enjoy in the years ahead.
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