Jeanne Miles

Jeanne Patterson Miles (1908–1990) was an American abstract painter and sculptor.

Early life and education Miles was a native of Baltimore who grew up in Washington, D.C. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from George Washington University, where she was the first woman to enroll in the art school. While painting a mural at a D.C. society cafe, Miles met a wealthy benefactor who agreed to fund a travel scholarship to Tahiti. Miles traveled there in 1937. When the grant money ran low, she left as a stowaway on a cargo ship to France.

Career In Paris, Miles studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and with Marcel Gromaire, developing her work in the Fauvist style. She exhibited work in the Salon des Indépendants in 1938. Her style was informed by Tantric art, Islamic and Tibetan art, eastern philosophy, and the philosopher P. Ouspensky. Her work is in the collections of the Guggenheim, the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Corcoran collection, and the Newark Museum, among others.

Personal life Miles was briefly married to Johannes Schiefer, a French painter. Her daughter is the actress Joanna Miles.

Awards and honors Miles received grants from Yaddo and the MacDowell Colony. In 1968 she received an award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, and in 1970 and 1973 she received Mark Rothko awards. She was honored with George Washington University's Alumni Achievement Award in 1987.