Launching Ralph Miller biography at exhibition

In the mid-20th century, Dunedin artist and designer Ralph Miller painted lively scenes around the city and from army life in the Pacific during World War 2, but he died tragically young at the age of 37 in 1956.

His son Brian Miller has written a biography of his father which will be launched at De Novo Gallery on November 6, accompanied by an exhibition of his work from November 6 to 10.

Because Ralph Miller died so young, the family still had most of his works, but were keen to find out if anyone else had any of his paintings, Brian Miller said.

Ralph Miller was a designer and artist. He and his brother Roy, a stained-glass artist, worked in their father's business, Miller's Studios. He was mostly self-taught but had lessons from Dunedin artists A.H. O'Keefe and Kathleen Salmond in the 1930s.

During the war, he was a member of the army band and was posted to Fiji and New Caledonia and many of his paintings show army life at the time. Back in Dunedin after the war, he sketched and painted at every opportunity and his dynamic works are filled with scenes of everyday life on the streets of Dunedin.