Gratz Gallery & Conservation Studio Inc. is excited to announce its 40th anniversary celebration and upcoming exhibition of the estate of Peter Miller, a female American modernist. A selection of her works will also be featured at the 60th annual Philadelphia Show, held Thursday, April 28, to Sunday, May 1, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. A preview and anniversary party for Peter Miller Forgotten Woman of American Modernism will be held Saturday, April 23, from 5 to 9 p.m. at the gallerys home in Doylestown, Pa. For 40 years, Gratz Gallery has taken great pride in supporting the arts and communities of New Hope, Bucks County, Philadelphia, and the Delaware Valley. They have worked with many organizations over the years: the James A. Michener Art Museum, the Princeton University Art Museum, Morven Museum & Garden, the Drumthwacket Foundation, Princeton University, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Mercer Museum, the Woodmere Art Museum, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Pennsylvania Historical Society, the Travis Manion Foundation, AIDS Walk New Hope, and the Salvation Army, to name a few. This year we are honored to announce our commitment for a portion of our sales to be designated to the Philadelphia organization Philabundance, seeking to drive hunger from our communities today and end hunger forever, said Stephanie Lisle of Gratz Gallery. Over the years, Gratz Gallery has promoted and featured many important female American artists from the New Hope Circle, the Philadelphia Ten, and students from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. It has always been its belief that female artists more often do not receive the deserved recognition for their work and talent. It is with hope and confidence that they finally see women artists from both long ago and today being reevaluated and honored for their contributions to the American art community, as this has been long overdue. The discovery of the Peter Miller collection presented here, and her story, is one the most fascinating and important discoveries the gallery has made over its 40 years representing American painters. Born Henrietta Myers in 1913, she attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1933. To demonstrate her passion and determination, she wrote in her application that she would rather fail at painting than succeed at anything else in life. She adopted her childhood nickname, Peter, and became Peter Miller after marrying fellow academy student Earle Miller in 1935. Thinking she might be taken more seriously by fellow artists, collectors, and critics with a male sounding name, she was hoping to enhance her career in a world heavily dominated by men. Peter came from an affluent family in Hanover, Pa., and later settled at Rock Raymond Farm in Chester County. She designated the 350-acre farm and property to be donated to the Brandywine Conservancy after her death in 1996. Peter Miller exhibited at the prestigious Julien Levy gallery in two one-woman shows in1944 and 1946. She studied under famed Pennsylvania Impressionist Daniel Garber and privately with modernist Arthur Carles for 10 years. Peter and Earle Miller split their personal time between Pennsylvania and their spiritual home in Santa Fe, N.M. Peter was the goddaughter of mystic Edith Warner and San Ildefonso Pueblo Indian, Tilano Montoya; both were known for running Teahouse at Otowi Bridge, a small, self-sustaining destination for hungry travelers and sometimes even the families of nearby working scientists of the Manhattan project in Los Alamos. Peter escaped her high society life to become an artist, immersed herself in the ancient history and ceremonies of the Native Americans, and drew passion and inspiration from these deeply connected friendships. But, she was also friends with the Calders, Henri Matisse, Max Ernst, and all of the surrealists of that time living in New York. Peter Millers paintings combine the influences of early modernist painters such as Pablo Picasso, Jean Miro, Fernand Leger, Arthur Carles, and Paul Klee, with Native American symbols, petroglyphs, and ceremonial objects. She was a highly intellectual, independent woman that developed her own style and artistic language. Peter Miller was a spiritual woman who observed the Native American beliefs of honoring nature. At home in Pennsylvania, Peter Miller was a close friend of Philadelphia Museum of Art Director Anne Julie dHarnoncourt and became a great patron of the museum. Peter and Earle were fortunate to have owned a stunning collection of paintings, including works by Jean Miro, Alexander Calder, and Georges Braques. Horse, Pipe, and Red Flower by Joan Miro was one of several paintings given to The Philadelphia Museum of Art by the Millers. The Gratz Gallery invites everyone to join in the tribute and transformation from a forgotten to an acknowledged woman of American modernism. The exhibition is accompanied by a first ever published monograph on the artist, fully illustrated, with text written by art historian Francis M. Naumann. Two other important painters from the Philadelphia art scene of the same time period, and students at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts as well, were modernist and surrealist artists Leon Kelly and Leonard Nelson. So it is with great pleasure that the gallery also put together a special selection of works by these three Philadelphia painters in a tribute exhibition called A Philadelphia Story, which will be featured at the Philadelphia Antiques Show. Gratz Gallery, in cooperation with art historians and experts Francis Naumann, Martica Sawin, and Sam Hunter, has published a separate, comprehensive, and fully illustrated monograph on each of these three artists. The books will be available for A Philadelphia Story. Gratz Gallery and Conservation Studio is located at 5230 Silo Hill Road, Doylestown, Pa. The gallery features 19th and 20th century American Art and offers museum-quality fine art conservation services and custom framing. The gallery is open Wednesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sundays, noon to 6 p.m., and by appointment. To learn more, call 215-348-2500 or visit www.gratzgallery.com.