CYRIL MILES, LISTED AMERICAN ABSTRACT CUBISM ORIGINAL

It is hand signed by the artist in the lower right window. It is not titled or dated.

Size: 24 x 36 inches, unframed

About the Artist

Biography from Who was Who in American Art:

Cyril Miles, (1918)

Birth place: Boston, MA

Addresses: Detroit, MI

Profession: Painter, instructor

Studied: Wayne State Univ. (B.S., 1942; M.A., 1943).

Exhibited: Int. Watercolor Exh., AIC, 1942; Drawing USA, St. Paul, MN, 1965; Northam. Mex. Cultural Inst., 1967 (solo); Downey Mus. Art, 1968 (solo); Premier Invenaire Int. Poesie Elémentaire, Paris, 1968; Arts Extended Gal., Inc., Detroit, MI, 1970s. Awards: Mich. WCS Award; Mich. Acad. Arts & Sciences; one of ten best films at Rochester, NY, 1967.

Member: Mich. Acad. Arts & Sciences; Mich. WCS (chmn., 1955); MoMA; Detroit Inst. Art Founders Soc.; Detroit Soc. Women Painters (hon. mem.)

Work: IBM Bldg., Southfield, MI; Metrop. Fed. Savings Bank, Detroit, MI; Manufacturers Bank, Detroit; Mich. Acad. Arts & Sciences, Ann Arbor. Commissions: "Happening: Italian," Bloomfield AA, 1965; "Happening: USA," Northam., Mex. Cultural Inst., Mexico City, Mex., 1967; "Happening: USA," Detroit Artist Market, 1967; "Happening: USA," Downing (CA) Mus. Art, 1967.

Comments: Preferred media: acrylics, collage. Publications: auth., "Knee-Deep in Poetry," Rubiner Art Gal., Royal Oak, MI, 1966; auth., "Environment or Happening Thing," single issue newspaper, 1967; ed., African Art Coloring Book, 1971; contrib., "Critical Review of Moholy Nagy," June, 1971 & book review, "Hans Richter," June, 1972, Journal Aesthetics & Art Criticism. Teaching: Detroit Inst. Art, 1942-67; Highland Park Pub. Schools, 1950-64; Highland Park Community College, 1942-.

Biography from her nephew Scott Silverman:

Cyril Miles, the aunt of Los Angeles copywriter Scott Silverman, was a Detroit painter, collagist, poet and teacher. A student of Sarkis Sarkisian at Detroit’s Cranbrook Academy and a teacher at both the Detroit Institute of Arts and Highland Park Community College, her work was inspired by a global view of folk cultures, making constant reference to life’s universals, the things that connect us all. Starting out in a job wherein she painted cookie jars for twelve cents a piece, her work is now in the collections of many private corporations and museums. Deeply moved by African Art, like Picasso she took an abstract approach and often rendered the human form in geometrics. At a celebrated Mexican festival, her work was exhibited alongside the Cubist master’s. For a time, she owned and operated Cyril’s Studio Gallery in Detroit.

Cyril (Aronson) Miles’ “1776” assemblage for the country’s bicentennial celebration is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian. Leveraging her vast knowledge of masks and other tribal art she published “The African Art Coloring Book” and later assisted in the production of “The Hebrew Alphabet Coloring Book.” Cyril Miles won numerous arts awards throughout her career (a more exhaustive listing is in the works), including First Prize at a Michigan Watercolor Exhibition and a Wayne State Arts Achievement Award.

The “world’s wackiest wall,” a fully automated, dimensional installation she created with husband and conspirator Arnold Miles was featured in The Detroit Free Press and induced awe in all who came to visit their museum-like home. The Happenings they staged together in the Sixties were produced to the delight of Metropolitan Detroit’s creative community. Humanitarians of exemplary tenacity, energy and generosity, the couple influenced the lives of hundreds. As Cultural Coordinator for Detroit’s International Institute, Cyril Miles’ installations provided an exciting, informative celebration of the city’s multiethnic heritage. Together, Cyril and Arnold opened their Palmer Park home to dozens of visiting dignitaries and foreign travelers.

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