George Van Millett

George Van Millet was born on April 5, 1864, in Kansas City, Missouri. After graduating from high school, he briefly attended college in Wisconsin, returned to work in his family’s Kansas City printing firm, moved to St. Louis to work in the offices of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and then worked as an engraver at the great Western Lithographing Company. Millett’s artistic talent was recognized, and he made his way to Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Cincinnati School of Fine Arts. Although Millett was only briefly enrolled there before returning to Kansas City, his next move would be to Munich, where he studied at The Royal Academy of Fine Arts from 1886-1890. After completing his studies in painting and conservation, he spent time in Paris before returning to Kansas City in 1891.

In Kansas City, Millett was well positioned to be an important member of the developing Kansas City art scene. He was a founding member of the Western Art League, which was absorbed by the Kansas City Art Association and School of Design, and eventually became the Kansas City Art Institute, where Millett taught several classes. Millett opened his studio at Ninth and Locust. Millett soon co-founded the Paint Club, which became the Kansas City Art Club, hosting annual exhibitions featuring well-known artists from around the country.

William Rockhill Nelson was a member of the Kansas City Art Club and employed Millett to maintain and conserve his collection of old master copies in the Western Gallery of Art from 1897 until this collection was moved to the newly opened Nelson Art Gallery in 1933. Millett was known for his portraits of prominent civic figures throughout Kansas City but also for his landscapes and plein-air paintings of regional landscapes. 

Millett exhibited his work regularly as a member of the Society of Western Artists and through local galleries and exhibitions. A portrait of Millett’s was given an honorable mention at the 1904 World’s Fair of St. Louis. Millett served on Kansas City’s Art Commission and was a member of the Scottish Rite Temple and the Chamber of Commerce.