The women in Miller’s paintings were often depicted doing some sort of activity to keep them from being completely idle. The art historian William Gerdts compared Miller to his friend, Frederick Frieseke: “Miller almost always stressed drawing and structure more than his colleague. The models he chose were quite distinct from Frieseke’s, more poignant and lovely, less in the Renoir mode.” (http://books0977.tumblr.com/post/151358662877/young-lady-reading-richard-edward-miller)