Arthur Henry Thomas Millier (1893-1975) was a noted printmaker and art critic who helped bring national recognition to many emerging California artists in the first half of the twentieth century. Born in England, he moved with his parents to California as a teenager, attended Los Angeles High School, and continued his studies at the Los Angeles Art Students' League. He served in France in World War I, and afterward settled for a time in San Francisco, where he studied at the California School of Fine Arts, worked as a designer at the Schmidt Lithograph Company, and honed his skills as a printmaker. His early etchings focused on street scenes and urban life in San Francisco, but his interest soon turned to the California landscapes for which he would become best known. He had his first solo exhibition in 1922. Over the years, he received several awards for etching, and today his prints are included in the permanent collections of such major institutions as the Los Angeles County Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago.

In 1922, Millier returned to Los Angeles and taught at the Chouinard Art Institute, Otis Art Institute, the University of Southern California, and the Pasadena Art Institute. In 1926, he became the art critic at the Los Angeles Times, where he would remain for more than three decades. From this position of influence, Millier was among the first to promote the growth of regional California art. His association with the California Scene Painters helped to establish the national reputations of such California artists as Emil Kosa, Phil Dike, Millard Sheets, Barse Miller, and Rex Brandt. He was also very sympathetic to work by members of the Los Angeles’ newly emerging modern art scene. He was friends with Edward Weston, Merle Armitage, Jake Zeitlin, Will Connell, Frank Lloyd Wright, R.M. Schindler, Richard Neutra, and other members of the Los Angeles’ avant-garde, and was a frequent champion of their work in his weekly reviews.

Millier’s art criticism was always respected, and he is frequently quoted in scholarly literature on the development of the California art scene, as well as the broader world of twentieth century art and design. Relatively little is known about Millier personally, and this archive contributes much to the body of knowledge about Millier’s life and family.

Biographical information provided by Walkabout Books, Laguna Hills, CA.