Lewis Miller is one of Australia's greatest living portrait artists. He won Australia's most famous portrait award, the Archibald prize, in 1998 and has been a finalist 17 times.
As well as winning and being shortlisted in many other art awards, his works are held in numerous public and private art collections in Australia and internationally. He has had 30 solo shows and his work has been included in over 90 group shows.
Painting from life, he has masterfully captured the likeness of notable sitters including High Court justices, a Nobel laureate, the first man to climb Mount Everest, as well as many artists and friends. In addition to his portraits and nudes, he paints exquisite still lifes which glow from the canvas.
He was appointed by the Australian War Memorial as a war artist in the Iraq conflict in 2003 and another commission saw him travel the globe to draw and paint over 60 portraits of scientists and technicians involved in the Human Genome Project.
In this episode of the podcast, Miller talks about his Archibald win, why he doesn't seek to flatter his sitters, what appeals to him about painting oysters, fish and pomegranates, as well as providing many insights into his materials and methods.
To hear the conversation press 'play' above and scroll down to see the works we talk about on the show and a short video taken on the day of the interview.
Upcoming events
2018 solo show with Heiser Gallery, Brisbane
Links to people and things we talk about in the show
Lewis Miller at Australian Galleries
Lewis Miller at Heiser Gallery
Peter Miller
William Dargie CBE
Victorian College of the Arts
Allan Mittelman
Archibald Prize
Ray Hughes
Natasha Walsh
Lucian Freud's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II
Michel Lawrence documentary on the making of portrait of Bernard Teague
The Hon Bernard Teague AO
The Hon Kim Santow AO
The Hon Robert French AC
Sir Edmund Hillary KG ONZ KBE
The Hon Susan Crennan AC QC
Rick Amor
Tom Alberts
Australian War Memorial
Peter Churcher
Will Dyson
Nora Heyson AC
George Lambert
Sir Ivor Hele CBE
Francis Bacon
Paul Cezanne
Vincent Van Gogh
Edgar Degas
Video of Lewis Miller in the studio on the Talking with Painters YouTube channel (below)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQR0VHC6pJo
Portrait of Susan Crennan AC QC is in the feature image above
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