Milton Clark Avery was born in 1885 in Altmar, New York. Largely self-taught, Avery is today regarded as one of the great early modern American artists; his inspired palette, simplified forms and unwavering commitment to a figurative tradition have secured him a place not only in the canon but also in the hearts of the American public.
Always at odds with the dominant style of the time, be it the American Scene Painting and Social Realism of the 1930s and '40s or the Abstract Expressionism of the 1950s, Avery's oeuvre is a labor of singular dedication. As a boy, Avery worked factory jobs to help support his large family following their move to Connecticut in 1898. He did not seriously begin to pursue art until sometime following his father's death in 1905, when he intermittently attended classes at the Connecticut League of Art Students. He made his artistic debut in 1915 at the Wadsworth Atheneum's Fifth Annual Exhibition of Oil Painting and Sculpture.
In 1925 Avery relocated to New York to be closer to his future bride. Following his marriage in 1926 he was able to quit working and paint full time. At this time Avery replaced the light-drenched palette of his Hartford days with more muted tones. He also exchanged his heavy impasto for thin washes of pigment, which he used to create veiled fields of color.
In 1927 Avery exhibited with the Society of Independent Artists. Success quickly followed. Two of his paintings were selected for inclusion in a 1928 group show at the Opportunity Gallery in New York. Also in 1928, renowned collector Louis Kaufman became the first person to purchase a painting by the artist; and in 1929 Duncan Phillips purchased Winter Riders (1929) for the Phillips Memorial Gallery, making it Avery's first painting to enter a museum collection.
Avery's signature figurative style characterized by simple forms and flattened shapes filled with arbitrary color "in the manner of Matisse" was fully developed by the 1940s. His work as a colorist greatly influenced succeeding generations of artists, specifically Color Field painters Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, and Adolph Gottlieb. In 1944 he was given his first solo museum exhibition at the Phillips Memorial Gallery. That same year, he entered into a contract with famed dealer Paul Rosenberg, in which Rosenberg agreed to purchase 25 of Avery's paintings twice a year.
In 1952 the Baltimore Museum of Art hosted Avery's first museum retrospective, and Avery was the subject of a major article in Arts magazine by eminent art critic Clement Greenberg. In 1960 the Whitney Museum of American Art hosted his second museum retrospective.
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(Biography provided by Helicline Fine Art)
"Fish" Milton Avery, Mid-Century, Modernist Fish, Blue, Gray, Maine Artist
By Milton Avery
Located in New York, NY
Milton Avery Fish, 1952 Signed and dated twice lower left Crayon on paper 3 1/2 x 10 inches Milton Clark Avery was born in 1885 in Altmar, New York. Largely self-taught, Avery is t...
Paper, Crayon
"Country Haircut"
By Milton Avery
Located in Lambertville, NJ
Jim’s of Lambertville Fine Art Gallery is proud to offer this piece by Milton Avery (1885 – 1965). Milton Avery was a prominent Modernist painter whose work combined abstraction and...
Watercolor, Gouache, Paper
$680Sale Price|20% Off
H 12 in W 8 in D 0.25 in
The Sketch Class, Figurative Study Line Drawing
By David Rosen (b.1912)
Located in Soquel, CA
Expressive line drawing figure study featuring a group of figures in a classroom by David Rosen (Canadian, 1912-2004). Unsigned, but was acquire...
Paper, Pen, Watercolor
Clinton Hill, (Nude #1), 1951, drawing, figure/abstraction
By Clinton Hill
Located in New York, NY
Clinton Hill (1922-2003), created quintessential mid-century images, but figures are unusual in his work. This is from a very early period. In 1951 Hill studied at the Academie de la...
Gouache
$310
H 14 in W 16 in D 0.13 in
A Striking, 1951 Mid-Century Modern Abstract Ink Drawing, "Conversation"
By Harold Haydon
Located in Chicago, IL
A striking Mid-Century Modern 1950s abstract ink drawing by notable Chicago artist, Harold Haydon. A wonderful example of Hayden's experimentation with continuous line drawing. Ink...
Ink, Paper
$385
H 14 in W 11 in D 0.13 in
An Avant-Garde, Mid-Century Modern Abstract Female Figure Study by Harold Haydon
By Harold Haydon
Located in Chicago, IL
A Dynamic, Avant-Garde, Mid-Century Modern Abstract Female Figure Study by Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). A striking, black & white figural studio ink drawing on paper depictin...
Paper, Ink
$275
H 20 in W 16 in
A Moment Where Wonder Takes Over - Figurative Surrealist Watercolor Painting
By Amanda Immurs
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Amanda Immurs, an artist hailing from Hamilton, Canada, creates enchanting watercolor artworks that bring whimsical scenes of children, animals, and flora to life. Immurs' art is gro...
Paper, Watercolor, Graphite
$135
H 14 in W 18 in D 0.13 in
A Delightful, 1950s Mid-Century Modern Ink Drawing of a Resting Cat
By Harold Haydon
Located in Chicago, IL
A Delightful, 1950s Mid-Century Modern Ink Drawing of a Resting Cat by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). Artwork size: 9 1/4” x 11 1/2” (Sheet), unframed, mat...
Paper, Ink
$7,500
H 37 in W 30 in
Vibrant Alan Davie Scottish Colorful Surrealist British Pop Art Village Painting
By Alan Davie
Located in Surfside, FL
Alan Davie, Scotland (1920-2014). Gouache painting with watercolor 'Village Myth' Hand signed ('with love') lower left, 1982 Dimensions: with frame 37.5"H x 30.25"W; image, 28"H x 22.5"W. James Alan Davie (1920 – 2014) was a Scottish painter and musician. Davie was born in Grangemouth, Scotland in 1920, the son of Elizabeth (née Turnbull) and James William Davie, an art teacher and painter who exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1925. During this formative period Davie discovered the poetry of Walt Whitman and T.S. Eliot, whose prose is echoed in letters home as well as his own verses. Alan Davie studied at Edinburgh College of Art from 1937 to 1941. An early exhibition of his work came through the Society of Scottish Artists. After the Second World War, Davie played tenor saxophone in the Tommy Sampson Orchestra, which was based in Edinburgh and broadcast and toured in Europe. He also earned a living making jewellery during the postwar period. Davie began teaching basic design in the jewellery department at London’s Central School of Arts and Crafts led by the Scottish artist William Johnstone, where colleagues included artists Nigel Henderson, Eduardo Paolozzi, Richard Hamilton and Patrick Heron. In 1961, Davie’s jewellery was featured in The International Exhibition of Modern Jewellery at London’s Goldsmith’s Hall, a milestone in the history of jewellery making in Britain where an impressive roster of international and British artists including Alexander Calder, Naum Gabo, Victor Pasmore and John McHale...
Paper, Watercolor, Gouache
$2,200
H 12.5 in W 9.25 in
'Abstracted Figure', Sydney, Museum of Modern Art in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower right, 'Bonorat' and painted circa 1980 An elegant, modernist figural painting and early work by this Sydney-based Mexican artist who studied at the National School of Fine Arts in Mexico City (1982-84) and, subsequently, at the Museum of Modern Art in Sao Paulo, Brazil (1986). STUDIES 1982-1984 Painting and Drawing Ateliers – National School of Fine Arts, Mexico City 1985-1986 Artistic Experimentation – Carrillo Hill Museum, Mexico City 1986 Metal Engraving – Museum of Modern Art Sao Paulo Brazil SOLO EXHIBITIONS 1986 Art Gallery of Santos Municipal Cultural Centre, Sao Paulo, Brazil 1988 Art Gallery of Porto Alegre Municipal centre, R.S. Brazil 1991 Gallery Casa de la Cultura, Morelia Mexico 1994 The Beatty Gallery, Sydney 1996 The Beatty Gallery, Sydney 1996 Michael Burke Gallery, Brisbane 1997 The Beatty Gallery, Sydney 2019 ‘Golden Trinity’, Thienny Lee Gallery, Sydney 2019 ‘Continuous Thread, GAFFA Gallery, Sydney GROUP EXHIBITIONS 1985 Mail Art Network Kyoto City Museum, Kyoto Japan 1987 Banespa Cultural Centre, Sao Paulo Brazil 1988 IV National Contest of Fine Arts, Cubatao Brazil 1992 NCA Gallery, Sydney 1994 The Beatty Gallery, Sydney 1994/5/6 Selected for the “Fisher’s Ghost” Art...
Paper, Ink, Watercolor, Gouache
$10,000
H 12.25 in W 19.38 in
Highlands Sheep; A finished study from the Highlands Series
By Rosa Bonheur
Located in Middletown, NY
A finished primary study for Bonheur's major oil paintings of the late 1850s, capturing the quiet, unadorned dignity of animals in their native environment. Circa 1855. Graphite and...
Handmade Paper, Graphite, Crayon
Blanche Grambs, (Young Owl)
By Blanche Grambs
Located in New York, NY
Blanche Grambs, whose career started with the WPA, was an extremely skilled draftsperson. Her birds are masterful. Although we use the word 'pencil' fo...
Pencil
$145
H 11 in W 13 in D 0.25 in
A Charming 1930s Cubist Modern Architectural Study Drawing, Building Facade
By Carl Robert Holty
Located in Chicago, IL
A Charming 1930s Modern Cubist Architectural Study Drawing, Building Facade by Notable American Modern Artist, Carl Robert Holty (1900-1973). Graphite on paper, dating from 1936. A...
Paper, Graphite
$135
H 12 in W 7 in D 0.13 in
A Distinctive, 1950s Mid-Century Modern Cubist Portrait Study of Two Young Men
By Harold Haydon
Located in Chicago, IL
A Distinctive, 1950s Mid-Century Modern Cubist Portrait Study of Two Young Men by Noted Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). A visually striking charcoal male portrait stu...
Paper, Charcoal
Figure on the Beach (Lone Sunbather)
By Milton Avery
Located in Fairfield, CT
PROVENANCE Makler Gallery, Philadelphia; to Private collection, 1967; [Sale: Sotheby's, New York, December 1, 2004, lot 240]; to Private collection, New York, until 2021
Watercolor, Board, Pencil
Sold
H 17.75 in W 14.75 in
"March Avery in Beret, " Milton Avery, American Modernism, Portrait of Artist
By Milton Avery
Located in New York, NY
Milton Clark Avery (1885 - 1965) March Avery in a Beret, 1951 Black crayon and graphite on cream wove paper 11 x 8 3/8 inches Signed and dated lower left; ...
Paper, Crayon, Pencil, Graphite
Frothy Inlet
By Milton Avery
Located in New York, NY
Signed and dated lower right: Milton Avery 1948; on verso: “FROTHY INLET” by MILTON AVERY W.C. 22 x 30 1948
Watercolor
Stn Anne's
By Milton Avery
Located in Santa Monica, CA
MILTON AVERY (1885 - 1965) Ste. ANNE’S 1947 Pen & ink drawing. Signed, titled and dated by the artist, 7 5/8 X 4 7/8” image & sheet. A charming, small scale Avery jewel. Provenance: Gerald Peters...
Pen
Sold
H 24.13 in W 20.13 in
"Sally Phone Call, " Pencil Drawing signed by Milton Avery
By Milton Avery
Located in Milwaukee, WI
A pencil on paper figurative drawing by American artist Milton Avery depicts his wife, Sally Avery, on the telephone. The table depicted in the drawing was in the front entrance to Sally Avery's apartment at 300 Central Park West in New York City. The electric energy of the pencil strokes symbolize the energy that Sally Avery always projected when she was talking on the telephone. Signed "Milton Avery" lower right. 11 x 8 1/2" art 24 1/8 x 20 1/8" framed "Milton Avery's work is seminal to American abstract painting—while his work is clearly representational, it focuses on color relations and is not concerned with creating the illusion of depth as most conventional Western painting since the Renaissance has. Avery was often thought of as an American Matisse, especially because of his colorful and innovative landscape paintings. His poetic, bold and creative use of drawing and color set him apart from more conventional painting of his era. Early in his career, his work was considered too radical for being too abstract; when Abstract Expressionism became dominant his work was overlooked, as being too representational. French Fauvism...
Pencil
Tender Trees
By Milton Avery
Located in Dallas, TX
signed "Milton / Avery / 1955" at upper right