Girard’s design for the North Christian Church funeral pall was rejected, and in his letter to Xenia Miller. Girard laments that caskets “will retain their obscene character totally out of place in a beautiful interior space such as that of the North Christian Church.”

Alexander H. Girard to Xenia S. Miller, 23 January 1979, 5/39, Miller House and Garden Collection, IMA Archives, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana.  (MHG_Ib_B005_f039_005-006)

This memo caught our eye because it seems Ernest LoNano replaced buttons on the Eames lounge chair by Herman Miller. The firm of Ernest LoNano made the original curtains, bedspreads, and pillows for the Miller House. 

Alexander H. Girard to George Newlin, 30 June 1958, 2/10, Miller House and Garden Collection, IMA Archives, Indianapolis, Indiana. (MHG_Ia_B002_f010_107)

Dick Russell designed the fruitwood chest (MH2010.5) that’s located near the living room fireplace. Russell and Girard were classmates in London.

Letter from Alexander H. Girard to J. Irwin MIller, 13 April 1957, 2/9, Miller House and Garden Collection, IMA Archives, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana. (MHG_Ia_B002_f009_044)

No Detail Too Small. Mr. Miller asks Girard if he has thought about where the pencil sharpener will go on the desk (Item 22-C1) in the Master Bedroom Study. (We’re guessing Girard did not make accommodations for the false teeth and glass eyes.)

Letter from J. Irwin Miller to Alexander H. Girard, 10 August 1955, 33/382, Miller House and Garden Collection, IMA Archives, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana. (MHG_Ic_B033_f382_051-053)

The Millers hired paintings conservator F. DuPont Cornelius in 1957 to treat an oil painting. Little information about the painting is in the Miller House and Garden Collection. Besides this pair of letters is an invoice from Alexander Girard that gives the source (Roslyn Rosier), a description (Fruit Picture for Dining Room, Oil Painting, Still-Life), and cost ($950, less 20%, plus 40% commission). Cornelius was “Restorer To The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center” and “Conservator, The Art Gallery, Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe.”

F. duPont Cornelius to Alexander Girard, 4 November 1957; Alexander Girard to Wanda Henderson, 8 November 1957, 1/7, Miller House and Garden Collection, IMA Archives, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana. (MHG_Ia_B001_f007_091-092)

Although the Millers were told in 1957 that diffused sunlight would not harm varnished oil paintings, conservation research in the 1960s demonstrated it did. The National Gallery of Art’s Ernest R. Feidler wrote to J. Irwin Miller in 1967 and included Robert Feller’s 1964 article “Control of Deteriorating Effects of Light upon Museum Objects” (Museum 17.2: 57–98). Responding to Feller’s conclusions that ultraviolet light damaged art, the National Gallery in partnership with Rohm & Haas Company developed a way to filter ultraviolet light. Rohm & Haas produced a special Plexiglas known as “UF” (ultraviolet filtering) which was installed at the National Gallery of Art and at the Miller House.

Ernest R. Feidler to J. Irwin Miller, 14 June 1967, 29/332, Miller House and Garden Collection, IMA Archives, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana.

This week the American Institute for Conservation (AIC) is holding its annual meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana. To welcome the conservators we’re featuring conservation-related documents from the Miller House and Garden Collection. Today’s post is a 1957 letter from Kevin Roche of Eero Saarinen and Associates. With skylights in nearly every room, the Miller House is filled with diffused sunlight, and the Millers were concerned about what effect sunlight would have on paintings, drawings, textiles, and books. Roche consulted with the Detroit Institute of Art and was told that varnished oil paintings would not be harmed by diffused sunlight. (They learn differently in 1967.)

Kevin Roche to J. Irwin Miller, 3 December 1957, 1/7, Miller House and Garden Collection, IMA Archives, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana. (MHG_Ia_B001_f007_043)

Nancy Kriplen’s article “An Indiana Town Where Big Names Built” (New York Times, 10 May 2013) chronicles the impact J. Irwin Miller had on the architecture of Columbus, Indiana. When New York Times’ Home News Editor Cynthia Kellogg wrote to Irwin Miller in 1957 asking for permission to publish the Miller House “in a dignified manner,” Mr. Miller replied that he and Mrs. Miller had not yet made up their minds. The house was published in Architectural Forum (September 1958) and House and Garden (February 1959), but not in the New York Times. 

Cynthia Kellogg to J. Irwin Miller, 31 July 1957; draft of letter from J. Irwin Miller to Cynthia Kellogg; draft of letter from J. Irwin Miller to Alexander H. Girard, 1/8, Miller House and Garden Collection, IMA Archives, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana.  (MHG_Ia_B001_f008_067-068)

Establishing the Move-In Date. Writing in March 1958, Leon Yulkowski from Eero Saarinen and Associates advises the contractor’s “guarantee against defective workmanship and material” expires one year after the house was occupied. This letter, however, does not give the date of occupancy.

Letter from Leon Yulkowski to Larry Hoffman, 19 March 1958, 2/11, Miller House and Garden Collection, IMA Archives, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana. (MHG_Ia_B002_f011_033)

What did it take for the Millers to move in to their new home? Ten people devoted just to furnishings. Girard enlisted the help of his assistant Jeremy Lepard, five people from Ernest LoNano’s company, and three people from Treganowan’s. (LoNano made curtains and pillows and upholstered furniture. Treganowan made and supplied rugs.) 

Alexander Girard to Wanda Truitt, 11 March 1957, 2/9, Miller House and Garden Collection, IMA Archives, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana. (MHG_Ia_B002_f009_076-077)