The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of August 14, 2026

A horizontally oriented watercolor presents a high-angle view of a snowy intersection framed by a dark elevated train structure. Spindly, dark lines crisscross the street, which is streaked with slushy gray paint. On the right, a rounded car sits near a sidewalk and fire hydrant. A red building provides a pop of color among shadowy storefronts on the left. Stark white highlights and deep shadows create a high-contrast, atmospheric city scene.

City Snow

1944

John Paul Miller

(American, 1918–2013)
America, Ohio, Cleveland
watercolor
Sheet: 37.9 x 55.7 cm (14 15/16 x 21 15/16 in.)
Bequest of John Bonebrake 2012.139
Location: Not on view

Description

Although Miller is renowned as a jeweler working in gold and enamel, he planned to be a painter. Miller graduated from the Cleveland School of Art (now Cleveland Institute of Art) in 1940 and taught there a year before joining the army. He was stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and continued to make watercolors of urban scenes and landscapes. Miller said he was influenced by the realist paintings of Edward Hopper and the more expressionist landscapes of Charles Burchfield. City Snow won second prize for watercolor in the Twenty-Sixth Annual Exhibition of Work by Cleveland Artists and Craftsmen (known as the May Show) at the museum in 1944. John Bonebrake, the donor, knew Miller well since both attended Shaker Heights High School.
  • Eleanor Auwerter (Mrs. John); John Bonebrake
  • John Paul Miller Entry Card to 1944 May Show. Cleveland Museum of Art May Show Records, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
    John Paul Miller collection. 1850-2010, bulk 1940-2000. Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
  • A Passion for Prints: The John Bonebrake Donation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 2, 2011-January 29, 2012).
    The May Show: 26th Annual Exhibition of Works by Cleveland Artists and Craftsmen. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 2-June 11, 1944).
  • {{cite web|title=City Snow|url=false|author=John Paul Miller|year=1944|access-date=14 August 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2012.139