Highlighting the sale will be the Richard G. Miller collection of hand painted photographs.
This is a short biography & description of the collection, as written by his son Jason:
Richard G. Miller was a Hudson River Valley native, born in Middletown, NY who lived his entire life in Pine Bush, NY. After graduating from Pine Bush High School in 1966, he spent 3 years as an MP in the US Army. Upon his return from his service in the army, he graduated from Orange County Community College (OCCC) and furthered his education at SUNY New Paltz, graduating with a degree in art. His interest in antiques began while attending OCCC and continued until his untimely death in 1993 at the age of 45. During his years scouring the Hudson Valley and the East Coast he was known for purchasing and collecting unusual items. His personal collection focused on early photography, in particular painted photos. Following is a detailed explanation of his collection.
The Richard G. Miller collection of painted photographs was collected by my father in the mid-late 1980s and very early ’90s. He was actively building the collection at the time of his death in 1993. Richard was a well-known art and antiques dealer. He was a regular dealer at New York’s 26th Street Annex, along with numerous other weekly and seasonal shows across the Northeast: Brimfield, Stormville, Perkiomenville, Shupps Grove, Renninger’s, Papermania, and others. He ran his own antiques store on lower Broadway in Newburgh, NY; owned the Pine Bush Grange Hall (home of Mark Vail Auctions); and produced or coordinated art and antiques auctions in the Hudson Valley. His antiques stock was large and wide-ranging. From furniture to smalls, he gravitated to the odd and the unique. Among other things he appreciated quack and ephemera. One of his greatest interests was antique photography. He bought all he could lay his hands on, mostly 19th and early 20th century work of all kinds, in a wide range of processes, from daguerreotypes up to gelatin-silver prints, cased, framed, loose, in albums, glass and film slide collections, cabinet and visiting cards, photo-postcards, negative collections, you name it. Subject matters ranged as wide as the geography he covered on buying trips in seemingly every small town from upper Maryland to Massachusetts, deep into Pennsylvania, and so far upstate in New York that you’d swear you were in Canada, or at least Vermont or Ohio. Among the photographs he found, the ones he treasured most were those he called “painted photographs,” simply put, photographic prints that have been altered with the application of paint or pigments. He found that there was no variety of photographic product that had not been “improved” at some time or other by a little application of this or that. There are daguerreotypes with their silvery faces interrupted by tiny spots of paint and sparkle highlighting the sitters’ jewelry or blushing their cheeks, tintypes with fantastical backgrounds added behind the subject, and with elaborate rugs painted beneath their feet. There are poster-sized enlargements mounted on canvas that are completely overpainted with oils, and elaborate collages and montages of photographs, lettering, allegorical scenes, and lurid colors all laid on thick.
Also included in the sale will be a collection of approx. 100 panoramic photographs, the last of the noted NYC photography dealer Howard Daitz which includes 20th-century photography, including portfolios. Also part II of a Kingston, N.Y. collector’s cameras and accessories.
Online and absentee bids only, partial catalog online now, with remaining catalog to be posted in next 14 days. We can arrange shipping worldwide; there is a list of shippers and transporters on our website, who can give you pre-sale estimates on shipping. (Pick up available at gallery too). Please go to www.jmwauction.com to view catalog and updated lots added. Online bidding is with www.liveauctioneers.com. You can reach us at 845-389-1933 or gallery number is 845-339-4133.