Edgar Miller: Chicago’s Last Renaissance Man By Richard Cahan

In a technological age, he embraced Old World skills with strong hands toughened by a lifetime of work. He was a fine painter, a master wood carver, and one of the nation’s foremost stained-glass designers. He could sculpt and draw haunting portraits, and he was considered a pioneer in the use of graphic art in modern advertising. In the 1920s, Miller was called “the blond boy Michelangelo;” in the ’30s, “a new luminary” by Architecture magazine; and in the ’40s, “one of the most versatile artists in America.” By the 1950s, he was the go-to guy for the nation’s successful industrial designers.

Miller’s skill and talent were recognized at the time, but he is now largely overlooked — forgotten because his work does not fit into any artistic tradition or style; forgotten because his art was not meant to hang in museums, but in the homes he created; forgotten because his art is not seen.

Edgar Miller’s genius came together in four fully realized artistic studios that he built on Chicago’s North Side in the 1920s and ’30s. Miller touched almost every inch of the studios with daring and surprise. He took rustic brick and crude stone, salvaged tile, found glass, and steel and wood, and then “Edgarized” the homes, filling them with stained-glass windows, frescos, murals, tile work, and wood carving. Even though Miller made little money from the first two studio complexes, he persevered for nearly seven years, designing light fixtures, balusters, furniture, and railings — even cupboards, chests, candlesticks, and bookends.

Remarkably, the homes are still here. Their owners show a relentless drive to keep Miller’s masterpieces as original as possible. They trade modern comfort and conveniences for the chance to live in Miller’s lyrical monuments. The homes have changed over the decades, but much of Miller’s work — and the spirit he brought to each home — remains.

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