Margaret Milliken - Abstract Expressionist (1913-1968)

I wanted to share some of the paintings of my aunt, Margaret Milliken. She was a very important person in my life and left us all too soon. Here is some bio information from her son:

Margaret Milliken was part of the American Abstract Expressionist group of painters of the 1950's and 1960's. She was born in Cres, Yugoslavia in 1913, an island off the Dalmatian Coast, and at that time part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. When still a young child she and her family emigrated to the United States where they settled in Chester, Pennsylvania.

In the 1940's she married T. Harry Milliken, a scientist and inventor who designed and built one of the first solar-heated homes in the United States, in which they lived in Rose Valley, Pa. where they raised their three children. In 1959 the family moved to New York City where Margaret became an active member of the vibrant arts community of that era, studying with Hans Hoffman, among others. Her work encompassed pure abstract forms to more figurative representations. Some of her most beautiful paintings were the abstract florals she painted in the years just before she died in 1968 in New York City at the age of fifty-five.

I apologize, in advance, for the quality of the images.

The floral oils are approximately 7' x 6' or 4'.

Margaret Milliken, 1967

I don't tend to write personal stories on my blog, but I decided to do so here.

I wish that she was here. But, she "is" with me. In 2004, I was struggling with the decision whether to leave a very high paying job as an pediatric occupational therapist or develop my own business that was growing and I started in 2001. I loved working with the children and still miss them and my co-workers, but the politics and resulting stress was overwhelming.

One day I was doing the dishes and thinking about what to do and a strong whiff of a familiar scent came my way. I remembered that scent from my Aunt Margaret. I truely felt her presence and support. I had a warm feeling throughout my body and soul to move on to something positive in my life, develop my store and use my right brain......creative energy.

It was my best decision.

Thank you, Aunt Margaret. I miss you but I know that you are with me.


"In my earlier paintings the brushwork is free, but the forms,
restricted to the flower I saw, limited the blossoming of the canvas
as well. In the development of my work, I have been trying to
transform the flowers into a flowering canvas; to turn naturalistic
forms into pictorially expressive light."

Margaret Milliken (1913-1968)