York Art Gallery donated trio of Harland Miller pieces

These pieces, from the Bad Weather Paintings series, pay homage to three Yorkshire destinations close to Miller's heart: Whitby, Scarborough, and York, where he grew up.

The donation includes two large-scale canvases, 'York, So Good They Named It Once,' and 'Whitby, The Self Catering Years,' as well as a work on paper, 'Scarborough, Have Faith in Cod.'

These pieces were painted especially for the gallery and are a celebration of Miller's home city and childhood memories.

'Scarborough, Have Faith in Cod' is among the pieces donated to, and specially painted for, York Art Gallery by artist Harland Miller. The pieces are inspired by Miller's childhood memories, including time spent at York Art Gallery itself (Image: © Harland Miller Photo © White Cube (Theo Christelis)) Miller said: "I wrote a short story once titled 'It was after I was born that all this started to happen' and for me 'all of this' started to happen in York.

"Fast forwarding to what was probably my most influential initiation as an artist, which was undoubtedly the first time I saw great art in the flesh so to speak, and that for sure was at the York Art Gallery.

"With its very civic facade, it wasn’t a place as a kid then that you would just wander into, but once I had, and hadn’t been thrown out, I became a regular visitor.

"Fast forwarding again, this time some 40 odd years, and after showing my own work in York Art Gallery, and again, not being thrown out, I was so moved by the reaction, that after the gallery closed - a week after it had opened, due to Covid - I felt very keenly that I wanted people to experience my work for longer than that.

'Whitby, The Self Catering Years' (Image: © Harland Miller. Photo © White Cube (David Westwood))

"I wasn’t sure how much longer, but you can’t get much longer than forever and that seemed to just about cover it."

He added: "I really hope that other young artists will get as much pleasure as I have from wandering around the gallery and I hope that my paintings will be a part of that."

Dr Beatrice Bertram, senior curator at York Art Gallery, said: "We have harboured a long-term ambition to acquire Harland’s work, and are thrilled to finally be able to represent this internationally significant artist in our collection.

"These fantastic works were created exclusively for us in 2024, and are quintessentially Miller in character – immediately recognisable, beautifully painted, and subtly witty."

To commemorate the donation, Miller, together with art marketplace Avant Arte, is also releasing a limited edition print, 'York, So Good They Named It Once,' based on his original painting of the same name.

This edition aims to help raise funds for York Art Gallery.

The 27-colour silkscreen print will be available as an edition of 50, exclusively on avantarte.com this April.

Miller's 'XXX' runs from March 14 until August 31, 2025.

The artist is represented by White Cube.