Born in Yorkshire into a Russian-Jewish family, the painter Norman Miller grew up in Leeds and studied at the Leeds School of Art (1942-4) and Bradford College of Art (1948-51), his artistic education interrupted by a spell peace-keeping in Greece with the British army. Upon settling in London in 1952, Miller became part of an active community of post-war artists and writers in Camden, including William Coldstream, David Storey, Astrid Zydower, Liam Hanley and Hilary Hanley.

It was in Kentish Town that daily walks on Hampstead Heath inspired his much-loved figurative work, which with a powerful dream-like quality holds resonances with the art of David Inshaw and Marc Chagall. Landscapes and park scenes marvel in nature while conveying a deep interiority; birds, acrobats, clowns and jugglers appear as if suspended in time.

From 1965 onwards, these paintings found an audience in solo exhibitions at the John Whibley Gallery, Piccadilly Gallery, Portal Gallery and Belgrave Gallery, alongside regular inclusion in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition between 1984 and 2008.

Norman Miller was painting until his death in 2013.