March 2025: Artist Harland Miller Donates Works to York Art Gallery

York Art Gallery announces the generous donation by internationally acclaimed artist Harland Miller of several important pieces of his work to the collection. This very special suite of donations form part of his ‘Bad Weather Paintings’ series and pay homage to three Yorkshire destinations close to the artist’s heart: Whitby, Scarborough and York.

Painted especially for the Gallery, there are two large-scale canvases – ‘York, So Good They Named It Once’ and ‘Whitby, The Self Catering Years’ – as well as one work on paper, ‘Scarborough, Have Faith in Cod’. Inspired by his upbringing in 1970s Yorkshire, Miller creates colourful and graphically vernacular works which convey his love of popular language and attest to his enduring engagement with its narrative, aural and typographical possibilities. The donated works are a celebration of his home city and childhood memories, and the Gallery is delighted with this thoughtful gift.

Harland Miller says: “I wrote a short story once titled “It was after I was born that all this started to happen” and for me “all of this” started to happen in York. Naturally these were things that were happening for the very first time: first job, a paper round, first kiss on Oggy’s pond. Fast forwarding to what was probably my most influential initiation as an artist, which was undoubtedly the first time I saw great art in the flesh so to speak, and that for sure was at the York Art Gallery.

With its very civic facade, it wasn’t a place as a kid then that you would just wander into, but once I had… and hadn’t been thrown out, I became a regular visitor. I saw some great individual shows there but always loved to wander around the permanent collection, and particularly the seascapes. Fast forwarding again, this time some 40 odd years, and after showing my own work in York Art Gallery, and again, not being thrown out! I was so moved by the reaction, that after the gallery closed, a week after it had opened, due to Covid, I felt very keenly that I wanted people to experience my work for longer than that. I wasn’t sure how much longer, but you can’t get much longer than forever and that seemed to just about cover it. I really hope that other young artists will get as much pleasure as I have from wandering around the gallery and I hope that my paintings will be a part of that.”

 

Dr Beatrice Bertram, Senior Curator at York Art Gallery, says: “We have harboured a long-term ambition to acquire Harland’s work, and are thrilled to finally be able to represent this internationally significant artist in our collection. These fantastic works were created exclusively for us in 2024, and are quintessentially Miller in character – immediately recognisable, beautifully painted, and subtly witty. All three will make fantastic additions to our permanent collection, and we’re particularly pleased to be able to share his new painterly, expressive version of ‘York, So Good They Named It Once’ with audiences here in Miller’s home city – the original York! During the forthcoming ‘Harland Miller: XXX’ exhibition, these wonderful works will be displayed in our first-floor galleries for visitors to see. We are incredibly grateful to Harland for his generous gift and continued support of the Gallery.”

To commemorate the donation, together with Avant Arte, a curated art marketplace, Miller is also releasing a limited edition print, ‘York, So Good They Named It Once’, based on his original painting of the same name. This edition aims to help raise funds for York Art Gallery. The 27 colour silkscreen print with spot colours on 600gsm Somerset Tub Sized Radiant White paper will measure 100 x 66 cm. It will be available as the edition of 50 exclusively on avantarte.com this April.

Miller’s much-anticipated ‘XXX’, a nationally important exhibition for York, Yorkshire and the UK, runs from 14 March until 31 August 2025.

The artist is represented by White Cube.

• Harland Miller, ‘Whitby, The Self Catering Years’, 2024. Oil on canvas. © Harland Miller. Photo © White Cube (David Westwood)
• Harland Miller, ‘York So Good They Named It Once’, 2024. Oil on canvas © Harland Miller. Photo © White Cube (David Westwood)
• Harland Miller, ‘Scarborough, Have Faith in Cod’, 2024. Oil on paper. © Harland Miller Photo © White Cube (Theo Christelis)