Why is Death What's In It For Me important?

The Penguin works, and in particular Death What’s In It For Me?, are an exploration of the relationship between text, colour and their effect on the audience, while simultaneously formulating poignant social critique. Miller cites the likes of Ed Ruscha, Robert Rauschenberg, Anselm Kiefer and most importantly Mark Rothko as his main artistic influences.

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Death What’s In It For Me? by Harland Miller Background & Meaning

Meaning & Analysis

One of his iconic penguin covers, Death What’s in it For me? emphasises some of the darker themes that Harland Miller looks at in his works.

In 2001, Miller began producing his Penguin classics paintings, inspired by the format of the dust jackets of Penguin books. In these iconic works, he appropriates the familiar format and motif of the Penguin title page, exploring the relationship between the abstract, bold background colour and the embedded text, coming up with his own ironic, humorous titles with the likes of Fuck Art Let’s Dance and of course, Death What’s In It For Me?

Miller’s prints and paintings of dust jackets played a crucial role in kick starting his artistic career, and his first inspiration for the series came from stumbling upon a box of Penguin books outside a second-hand English bookstore in Paris in 1992. Their dusty, old and damp smell apparently reminded him of Northern England and his hometown of Yorkshire. This is when he experienced a “Eureka!” moment:

“I realised that the design of those classics would throw all the focus on the title of the book, which is exactly what I wanted to do.(…) People are so used to the format already with the text in the middle that you could really say whatever you wanted.” The 'cover' of Death Whats in it for Me? is worn and rugged, evoking an added feeling of nostalgia to this particular work.

The Penguin works, and in particular Death What’s In It For Me?, are an exploration of the relationship between text, colour and their effect on the audience, while simultaneously formulating poignant social critique. Miller cites the likes of Ed Ruscha, Robert Rauschenberg, Anselm Kiefer and most importantly Mark Rothko as his main artistic influences.
“One of my favourite artists is Rothko. If you look at a lot of Rothko, when he got into the maroon phase he was dealing with a lot of oranges and this redness of orange. There is a Rothko which is essentially a Penguin book . . . the same format – the orange-white-orange – just without the graphic furniture”, the artist explains. Indeed, Miller himself is an obvious influence on artists such as The Connor Brothers & James McQueen who have clearly been inspired by his work.
The impact of Rothko’s focus on colour and its effect on the viewer’s emotions and perception of the work is apparent in the Penguin series. In Death What's In It For Me? a light pink backdrop plays with the weightiness of the theme of death and gives it a more light-hearted context, manipulating the viewer’s engagement with the work and the topic. This work fetched £212,500 at auction with Christie’s in 2019. Thus, the use of specific colours and their relationship to the text is crucial in this series.
If you're looking to sell art by Harland Miller, click the link and we can help. We employ a number of techniques and practices in order to give a realistic and achievable valuation on any art listed on myartbroker.com. We analyse the demand for the work in question, take into consideration previous sales and auction valuations, we assess the current gallery valuation and monitor the current deals taking place via MyArtBroker every day. We regularly advise sellers on a price bracket for their artwork completely free of charge.