B. 1908
D. 1990
Jeanne Miles was an artist who experimented with mediums and styles to attain spiritual dimensions within her work, drawing from ancient and modern traditions. Miles was born in Baltimore and was the first woman to attend the art school at George Washington University, where she earned a BFA. She traveled to Tahiti in 1937. From there, she went to France as a stowaway on a cargo ship. She studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and developed a Fauvist style. In 1938, she showed at the Salon des Indépentants. To escape Nazi-occupied France, she returned to the United States and became involved with the Abstract Expressionist scene in Greenwich Village. A lifelong student of spiritualism, she incorporated various religious and esoteric traditions into her work.
