Godfrey Miller
1893 - 1964 Trees in moonlight II 1960-64- oil on canvas laid on hardboard
'Dante wrote that all things are arranged in a certain order and this constitutes the form by which the Universe resembles God. That is a splendid approach to painting a still life'. Godfrey Miller 1966
The Golden Section is a key compositional device in the work of Godfrey Miller. He used this mathematical formula for the division of space to determine the arrangement of objects within his compositions according to principles of harmonious proportion.
The formula of the Golden Section is based on the structure of a spiral. In Trees in moonlight II, Miller uses the spiral as a compositional anchor to draw the eye around the eliptical perimeter of the work and inwards to the centre of the scene. He gives precedence to the painterly representation of space and light over the definition of solid forms, using a pictorial tesselation reminiscent of glass mosaic to give each of the elements of the work a shimmer and translucency.
The effect is as of the solid mass of the forest dissolving into moonlight.