Art for artists’ sake: Sale of colorful late Northampton painter’s works will benefit gallery/studio space for fellow creatives

Benjamin Barnes and Judith Fine put paintings up by Charlie Miller at the NEVA/Anchor House of Artists gallery in Northampton. At right, a self-portrait of Miller on a bench at Look Park.

Benjamin Barnes and Judith Fine put paintings up by Charlie Miller at the NEVA/Anchor House of Artists gallery in Northampton. At right, a self-portrait of Miller on a bench at Look Park. PHOTO BY CAROL LOLLIS

A self portrait done by Charlie Miller on a bench at Look Park at the NEVA/Anchor House Of Artist gallery space in Northampton.

A self portrait done by Charlie Miller on a bench at Look Park at the NEVA/Anchor House Of Artist gallery space in Northampton.

Judith Fine puts paintings up by Charlie Miller at the NEVA/Anchor House Of Artists gallery space in Northampton. Miller passed away in June of this year and on Nov. 8 the gallery will hold a celebration of life art retrospective and sale to benefit NEVA museum/Anchor House of Artists.

Judith Fine puts paintings up by Charlie Miller at the NEVA/Anchor House Of Artists gallery space in Northampton. Miller passed away in June of this year and on Nov. 8 the gallery will hold a celebration of life art retrospective and sale to benefit NEVA museum/Anchor House of Artists. STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS—

Linda Putnam, Trydy Hooks and Judith Fine put paintings up by Charlie Miller at the NEVA/Anchor House Of Artists gallery space in Northampton. Miller died in June of this year and on Nov. 8, the gallery will hold a celebration of life art retrospective and sale to benefit NEVA museum/Anchor House of Artists.

Linda Putnam, Trydy Hooks and Judith Fine put paintings up by Charlie Miller at the NEVA/Anchor House Of Artists gallery space in Northampton. Miller died in June of this year and on Nov. 8, the gallery will hold a celebration of life art retrospective and sale to benefit NEVA museum/Anchor House of Artists. STAFF PHOTOs/CAROL LOLLIS

Benjamin Barnes and Judith Fine put paintings up by Charlie Miller at the NEVA/Anchor House Of Artists gallery space in Northampton. Miller died in June of this year and on Nov. 8 the gallery will hold a celebration of life art retrospective and sale to benefit NEVA museum/Anchor House of Artists.

Benjamin Barnes and Judith Fine put paintings up by Charlie Miller at the NEVA/Anchor House Of Artists gallery space in Northampton. Miller died in June of this year and on Nov. 8 the gallery will hold a celebration of life art retrospective and sale to benefit NEVA museum/Anchor House of Artists. STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS—

Charlie Miller, 88 years old when this photograph was taken in 2020, paints in his apartment. Miller, when asked about the protest paintings, said, “They are an artist fighting back.”

Charlie Miller, 88 years old when this photograph was taken in 2020, paints in his apartment. Miller, when asked about the protest paintings, said, “They are an artist fighting back.” STAFF PHOTO/ CAROL LOLLIS—

In November 2021, Charles Miller talks about his latest artwork showing at the Anchor House of Artists.

In November 2021, Charles Miller talks about his latest artwork showing at the Anchor House of Artists. STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS

By CAROLYN BROWN

Staff Writer

Published: 11-06-2024 4:39 PM

Modified: 11-12-2024 12:03 PM


When Northampton artist Charlie Miller died this summer at the age of 92, he left an enduring legacy. This weekend, a gallery show will honor him and benefit an art space he called home.

NEVAmuseum/Anchor House of Artists, a local art gallery and studio space for neurodiverse artists, will host a benefit gallery show of Miller’s works on Friday, Nov. 8, from 6 to 8 p.m. There’ll also be an invitation-only celebration of life for Miller’s friends before the event.

Miller, who showed works at NEVAmuseum (New England Visionary Artists) for the last 10 years of his life, was known for painting works about deep space, musicians, and “man’s inhumanity to man,” as show organizer Judith Fine put it. His series included “The Survivors,” “Looking for WWIII,” “Looking for WWIV” and “Oil Spills,” among others; one painting, which depicts four explosions in space, represents the four plane crashes on Sept. 11, 2001.

Fine was married to Miller for 30 years but remained very close to him after they divorced. During Miller’s lifetime, she appeared in a number of his paintings as what she called “the invisible model,” and she’s still passionate about sharing his art with the public.

“I fell in love with Charlie because I fell in love with his work,” she said. “I love his work. His work really moves me. It really, really speaks to me. It speaks to my heart.”

Fine also said:

“He takes something filled with angst and makes it gorgeous to look at,” she said. “And there’s the juxtaposition. I mean, these are gorgeous to look at. But if you see what the message is, they’re disturbing, and so they provoke thought, which is what he wants, what any artist wants to do. An artist doesn’t care if you love something or hate something. They just want you to have a reaction to it.”

At NEVAmuseum on Monday, dozens of Miller’s space-themed works were already hanging in one room; in an adjacent gallery room, a number of black-and-white paintings from a series called “The Musicians” rested against the walls. By the time the show is fully finished, a collection of Miller’s work will fill nine rooms.

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During Friday’s show, that work will be for sale at comparatively affordable prices, by Miller’s request — the most expensive work in the show will be $1,000, but most will be in the $150-$300 range. The proceeds will benefit the gallery’s exhibition programs and the shared studio space for neurodiverse artists.

“What I want people to walk away with is a Miller in their home,” Fine said. “That’s what I want. I want them to have the opportunity to be impacted like I’ve been impacted.”

Michael Tillyer, the co-director of NEVAmuseum (which he calls “the off-center art center”), first met Miller, a “cool cat” who “collected a lot of love around him,” in the 1970s. He said Miller’s approach to his art was comparable to his approach to one of his other passions: “as direct as his conga drumming.”

“It snaps. It has a beat. It’s right there,” he said. “There’s nothing particularly pretentious about it. He doesn’t try to [make it] beautiful, but it is.”

In particular, he spoke fondly of Miller’s “Stations of the Cross” series, which recasts the story of Jesus’s crucifixion into contemporary Boston — the Roman centurions are police officers, and the cross is made out of Plexiglass. Construction workers nail Jesus to the cross with drills.

“It’s an intense, intense, imaginative, horrifying group of works,” Tillyer said. “It’s a piece of genius.”

Co-director Susan Foley (who is also Tillyer’s wife) agreed that Miller’s work was impactful. As more of his paintings come out of storage this week while the exhibition comes together, she continues to be impressed with his work and vision.

“Wow,” she said. “That’s all you can say about him, is ‘wow!’