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MILTON AVERY (1885-1965)

ARTIST BIO INQUIREDOWNLOAD PDF
 
<div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Milton Avery developed a style all his own. Like Matisse, the artist most often compared with Avery, both artists were supreme colorists who treated landscapes and figures as patterns in harmonious arrangements. However, whereas Matisse chose a bright, intense palette, Avery was utterly loyal to sensibilities that achieve a life of their own. Whether in isolation or combination, Avery's colors can be lovely and gentle, or other times tart, yet always subtle and elegant. In America, Avery arrived as a unicorn; his art was unprecedented, with no true predecessors or direct followers of note. Yet his remarkable mastery of color, both innovative and influential, paved the way for later generations of American colorists. Avery may be America's greatest color poet, but he was also a rigorous draftsman. His figural paintings and prints were artfully configured by distorting body elements (elongating limbs, for example) simplifying contours, flattening volumes, and refining the image with a canny feel for carefully balanced, structural simplicity. </font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>"<em>Green Stockings</em>" is a poignant reflection of an artist who continued to innovate and refine his distinctive style even in the final stages of his life. Celebrated for his canny ability to distill subjects to their most essential forms, the artist demonstrates this skill again in this painting. The composition, with its simplified shapes and restrained color palette, embodies Avery's philosophy of distillation—removing the extraneous to reveal the essential. He uses color not as a representation tool but as a structural element. The painting's flat planes of color interact to create a balanced and harmonious whole. Though simply rendered, the green stockings act as a visual anchor, subtly drawing attention to the figure while enhancing the overall composition. This approach reflects Avery's mastery of using color to define space and form without relying on traditional techniques of shading or perspective. Despite the simplicity of the image, there is a depth to the painting that speaks to Avery's lifelong exploration of the interplay between abstraction and representation.</font></div> <div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Milton Avery developed a style all his own. Like Matisse, the artist most often compared with Avery, both artists were supreme colorists who treated landscapes and figures as patterns in harmonious arrangements. However, whereas Matisse chose a bright, intense palette, Avery was utterly loyal to sensibilities that achieve a life of their own. Whether in isolation or combination, Avery's colors can be lovely and gentle, or other times tart, yet always subtle and elegant. In America, Avery arrived as a unicorn; his art was unprecedented, with no true predecessors or direct followers of note. Yet his remarkable mastery of color, both innovative and influential, paved the way for later generations of American colorists. Avery may be America's greatest color poet, but he was also a rigorous draftsman. His figural paintings and prints were artfully configured by distorting body elements (elongating limbs, for example) simplifying contours, flattening volumes, and refining the image with a canny feel for carefully balanced, structural simplicity. </font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>"<em>Green Stockings</em>" is a poignant reflection of an artist who continued to innovate and refine his distinctive style even in the final stages of his life. Celebrated for his canny ability to distill subjects to their most essential forms, the artist demonstrates this skill again in this painting. The composition, with its simplified shapes and restrained color palette, embodies Avery's philosophy of distillation—removing the extraneous to reveal the essential. He uses color not as a representation tool but as a structural element. The painting's flat planes of color interact to create a balanced and harmonious whole. Though simply rendered, the green stockings act as a visual anchor, subtly drawing attention to the figure while enhancing the overall composition. This approach reflects Avery's mastery of using color to define space and form without relying on traditional techniques of shading or perspective. Despite the simplicity of the image, there is a depth to the painting that speaks to Avery's lifelong exploration of the interplay between abstraction and representation.</font></div> <div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Milton Avery developed a style all his own. Like Matisse, the artist most often compared with Avery, both artists were supreme colorists who treated landscapes and figures as patterns in harmonious arrangements. However, whereas Matisse chose a bright, intense palette, Avery was utterly loyal to sensibilities that achieve a life of their own. Whether in isolation or combination, Avery's colors can be lovely and gentle, or other times tart, yet always subtle and elegant. In America, Avery arrived as a unicorn; his art was unprecedented, with no true predecessors or direct followers of note. Yet his remarkable mastery of color, both innovative and influential, paved the way for later generations of American colorists. Avery may be America's greatest color poet, but he was also a rigorous draftsman. His figural paintings and prints were artfully configured by distorting body elements (elongating limbs, for example) simplifying contours, flattening volumes, and refining the image with a canny feel for carefully balanced, structural simplicity. </font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>"<em>Green Stockings</em>" is a poignant reflection of an artist who continued to innovate and refine his distinctive style even in the final stages of his life. Celebrated for his canny ability to distill subjects to their most essential forms, the artist demonstrates this skill again in this painting. The composition, with its simplified shapes and restrained color palette, embodies Avery's philosophy of distillation—removing the extraneous to reveal the essential. He uses color not as a representation tool but as a structural element. The painting's flat planes of color interact to create a balanced and harmonious whole. Though simply rendered, the green stockings act as a visual anchor, subtly drawing attention to the figure while enhancing the overall composition. This approach reflects Avery's mastery of using color to define space and form without relying on traditional techniques of shading or perspective. Despite the simplicity of the image, there is a depth to the painting that speaks to Avery's lifelong exploration of the interplay between abstraction and representation.</font></div> <div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Milton Avery developed a style all his own. Like Matisse, the artist most often compared with Avery, both artists were supreme colorists who treated landscapes and figures as patterns in harmonious arrangements. However, whereas Matisse chose a bright, intense palette, Avery was utterly loyal to sensibilities that achieve a life of their own. Whether in isolation or combination, Avery's colors can be lovely and gentle, or other times tart, yet always subtle and elegant. In America, Avery arrived as a unicorn; his art was unprecedented, with no true predecessors or direct followers of note. Yet his remarkable mastery of color, both innovative and influential, paved the way for later generations of American colorists. Avery may be America's greatest color poet, but he was also a rigorous draftsman. His figural paintings and prints were artfully configured by distorting body elements (elongating limbs, for example) simplifying contours, flattening volumes, and refining the image with a canny feel for carefully balanced, structural simplicity. </font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>"<em>Green Stockings</em>" is a poignant reflection of an artist who continued to innovate and refine his distinctive style even in the final stages of his life. Celebrated for his canny ability to distill subjects to their most essential forms, the artist demonstrates this skill again in this painting. The composition, with its simplified shapes and restrained color palette, embodies Avery's philosophy of distillation—removing the extraneous to reveal the essential. He uses color not as a representation tool but as a structural element. The painting's flat planes of color interact to create a balanced and harmonious whole. Though simply rendered, the green stockings act as a visual anchor, subtly drawing attention to the figure while enhancing the overall composition. This approach reflects Avery's mastery of using color to define space and form without relying on traditional techniques of shading or perspective. Despite the simplicity of the image, there is a depth to the painting that speaks to Avery's lifelong exploration of the interplay between abstraction and representation.</font></div> <div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Milton Avery developed a style all his own. Like Matisse, the artist most often compared with Avery, both artists were supreme colorists who treated landscapes and figures as patterns in harmonious arrangements. However, whereas Matisse chose a bright, intense palette, Avery was utterly loyal to sensibilities that achieve a life of their own. Whether in isolation or combination, Avery's colors can be lovely and gentle, or other times tart, yet always subtle and elegant. In America, Avery arrived as a unicorn; his art was unprecedented, with no true predecessors or direct followers of note. Yet his remarkable mastery of color, both innovative and influential, paved the way for later generations of American colorists. Avery may be America's greatest color poet, but he was also a rigorous draftsman. His figural paintings and prints were artfully configured by distorting body elements (elongating limbs, for example) simplifying contours, flattening volumes, and refining the image with a canny feel for carefully balanced, structural simplicity. </font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>"<em>Green Stockings</em>" is a poignant reflection of an artist who continued to innovate and refine his distinctive style even in the final stages of his life. Celebrated for his canny ability to distill subjects to their most essential forms, the artist demonstrates this skill again in this painting. The composition, with its simplified shapes and restrained color palette, embodies Avery's philosophy of distillation—removing the extraneous to reveal the essential. He uses color not as a representation tool but as a structural element. The painting's flat planes of color interact to create a balanced and harmonious whole. Though simply rendered, the green stockings act as a visual anchor, subtly drawing attention to the figure while enhancing the overall composition. This approach reflects Avery's mastery of using color to define space and form without relying on traditional techniques of shading or perspective. Despite the simplicity of the image, there is a depth to the painting that speaks to Avery's lifelong exploration of the interplay between abstraction and representation.</font></div> <div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Milton Avery developed a style all his own. Like Matisse, the artist most often compared with Avery, both artists were supreme colorists who treated landscapes and figures as patterns in harmonious arrangements. However, whereas Matisse chose a bright, intense palette, Avery was utterly loyal to sensibilities that achieve a life of their own. Whether in isolation or combination, Avery's colors can be lovely and gentle, or other times tart, yet always subtle and elegant. In America, Avery arrived as a unicorn; his art was unprecedented, with no true predecessors or direct followers of note. Yet his remarkable mastery of color, both innovative and influential, paved the way for later generations of American colorists. Avery may be America's greatest color poet, but he was also a rigorous draftsman. His figural paintings and prints were artfully configured by distorting body elements (elongating limbs, for example) simplifying contours, flattening volumes, and refining the image with a canny feel for carefully balanced, structural simplicity. </font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>"<em>Green Stockings</em>" is a poignant reflection of an artist who continued to innovate and refine his distinctive style even in the final stages of his life. Celebrated for his canny ability to distill subjects to their most essential forms, the artist demonstrates this skill again in this painting. The composition, with its simplified shapes and restrained color palette, embodies Avery's philosophy of distillation—removing the extraneous to reveal the essential. He uses color not as a representation tool but as a structural element. The painting's flat planes of color interact to create a balanced and harmonious whole. Though simply rendered, the green stockings act as a visual anchor, subtly drawing attention to the figure while enhancing the overall composition. This approach reflects Avery's mastery of using color to define space and form without relying on traditional techniques of shading or perspective. Despite the simplicity of the image, there is a depth to the painting that speaks to Avery's lifelong exploration of the interplay between abstraction and representation.</font></div> <div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Milton Avery developed a style all his own. Like Matisse, the artist most often compared with Avery, both artists were supreme colorists who treated landscapes and figures as patterns in harmonious arrangements. However, whereas Matisse chose a bright, intense palette, Avery was utterly loyal to sensibilities that achieve a life of their own. Whether in isolation or combination, Avery's colors can be lovely and gentle, or other times tart, yet always subtle and elegant. In America, Avery arrived as a unicorn; his art was unprecedented, with no true predecessors or direct followers of note. Yet his remarkable mastery of color, both innovative and influential, paved the way for later generations of American colorists. Avery may be America's greatest color poet, but he was also a rigorous draftsman. His figural paintings and prints were artfully configured by distorting body elements (elongating limbs, for example) simplifying contours, flattening volumes, and refining the image with a canny feel for carefully balanced, structural simplicity. </font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>"<em>Green Stockings</em>" is a poignant reflection of an artist who continued to innovate and refine his distinctive style even in the final stages of his life. Celebrated for his canny ability to distill subjects to their most essential forms, the artist demonstrates this skill again in this painting. The composition, with its simplified shapes and restrained color palette, embodies Avery's philosophy of distillation—removing the extraneous to reveal the essential. He uses color not as a representation tool but as a structural element. The painting's flat planes of color interact to create a balanced and harmonious whole. Though simply rendered, the green stockings act as a visual anchor, subtly drawing attention to the figure while enhancing the overall composition. This approach reflects Avery's mastery of using color to define space and form without relying on traditional techniques of shading or perspective. Despite the simplicity of the image, there is a depth to the painting that speaks to Avery's lifelong exploration of the interplay between abstraction and representation.</font></div> <div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Milton Avery developed a style all his own. Like Matisse, the artist most often compared with Avery, both artists were supreme colorists who treated landscapes and figures as patterns in harmonious arrangements. However, whereas Matisse chose a bright, intense palette, Avery was utterly loyal to sensibilities that achieve a life of their own. Whether in isolation or combination, Avery's colors can be lovely and gentle, or other times tart, yet always subtle and elegant. In America, Avery arrived as a unicorn; his art was unprecedented, with no true predecessors or direct followers of note. Yet his remarkable mastery of color, both innovative and influential, paved the way for later generations of American colorists. Avery may be America's greatest color poet, but he was also a rigorous draftsman. His figural paintings and prints were artfully configured by distorting body elements (elongating limbs, for example) simplifying contours, flattening volumes, and refining the image with a canny feel for carefully balanced, structural simplicity. </font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>"<em>Green Stockings</em>" is a poignant reflection of an artist who continued to innovate and refine his distinctive style even in the final stages of his life. Celebrated for his canny ability to distill subjects to their most essential forms, the artist demonstrates this skill again in this painting. The composition, with its simplified shapes and restrained color palette, embodies Avery's philosophy of distillation—removing the extraneous to reveal the essential. He uses color not as a representation tool but as a structural element. The painting's flat planes of color interact to create a balanced and harmonious whole. Though simply rendered, the green stockings act as a visual anchor, subtly drawing attention to the figure while enhancing the overall composition. This approach reflects Avery's mastery of using color to define space and form without relying on traditional techniques of shading or perspective. Despite the simplicity of the image, there is a depth to the painting that speaks to Avery's lifelong exploration of the interplay between abstraction and representation.</font></div> <div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Milton Avery developed a style all his own. Like Matisse, the artist most often compared with Avery, both artists were supreme colorists who treated landscapes and figures as patterns in harmonious arrangements. However, whereas Matisse chose a bright, intense palette, Avery was utterly loyal to sensibilities that achieve a life of their own. Whether in isolation or combination, Avery's colors can be lovely and gentle, or other times tart, yet always subtle and elegant. In America, Avery arrived as a unicorn; his art was unprecedented, with no true predecessors or direct followers of note. Yet his remarkable mastery of color, both innovative and influential, paved the way for later generations of American colorists. Avery may be America's greatest color poet, but he was also a rigorous draftsman. His figural paintings and prints were artfully configured by distorting body elements (elongating limbs, for example) simplifying contours, flattening volumes, and refining the image with a canny feel for carefully balanced, structural simplicity. </font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>"<em>Green Stockings</em>" is a poignant reflection of an artist who continued to innovate and refine his distinctive style even in the final stages of his life. Celebrated for his canny ability to distill subjects to their most essential forms, the artist demonstrates this skill again in this painting. The composition, with its simplified shapes and restrained color palette, embodies Avery's philosophy of distillation—removing the extraneous to reveal the essential. He uses color not as a representation tool but as a structural element. The painting's flat planes of color interact to create a balanced and harmonious whole. Though simply rendered, the green stockings act as a visual anchor, subtly drawing attention to the figure while enhancing the overall composition. This approach reflects Avery's mastery of using color to define space and form without relying on traditional techniques of shading or perspective. Despite the simplicity of the image, there is a depth to the painting that speaks to Avery's lifelong exploration of the interplay between abstraction and representation.</font></div> <div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Milton Avery developed a style all his own. Like Matisse, the artist most often compared with Avery, both artists were supreme colorists who treated landscapes and figures as patterns in harmonious arrangements. However, whereas Matisse chose a bright, intense palette, Avery was utterly loyal to sensibilities that achieve a life of their own. Whether in isolation or combination, Avery's colors can be lovely and gentle, or other times tart, yet always subtle and elegant. In America, Avery arrived as a unicorn; his art was unprecedented, with no true predecessors or direct followers of note. Yet his remarkable mastery of color, both innovative and influential, paved the way for later generations of American colorists. Avery may be America's greatest color poet, but he was also a rigorous draftsman. His figural paintings and prints were artfully configured by distorting body elements (elongating limbs, for example) simplifying contours, flattening volumes, and refining the image with a canny feel for carefully balanced, structural simplicity. </font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>"<em>Green Stockings</em>" is a poignant reflection of an artist who continued to innovate and refine his distinctive style even in the final stages of his life. Celebrated for his canny ability to distill subjects to their most essential forms, the artist demonstrates this skill again in this painting. The composition, with its simplified shapes and restrained color palette, embodies Avery's philosophy of distillation—removing the extraneous to reveal the essential. He uses color not as a representation tool but as a structural element. The painting's flat planes of color interact to create a balanced and harmonious whole. Though simply rendered, the green stockings act as a visual anchor, subtly drawing attention to the figure while enhancing the overall composition. This approach reflects Avery's mastery of using color to define space and form without relying on traditional techniques of shading or perspective. Despite the simplicity of the image, there is a depth to the painting that speaks to Avery's lifelong exploration of the interplay between abstraction and representation.</font></div>
Green Stockings196330 x 23 3/4 in.(76.2 x 60.33 cm) oil on canvas board
Provenance
Private Collection (acquired from the artist)
Sotheby's New York, December 4, 1980, lot 226
Private Collection, acquired from the above
 
 Price500,000
Milton Avery developed a style all his own. Like Matisse, the artist most often compared with Avery, both artists were supreme colorists who treated landscapes and figures as patterns in harmonious arrangements. However, whereas Matisse chose a bright, intense palette, Avery was utterly loyal to sensibilities that achieve a life of their own. Whether in isolation or combination, Avery's colors can be lovely and gentle, or other times tart, yet always subtle and elegant. In America, Avery arrived as a unicorn; his art was unprecedented, with no true predecessors or direct followers of note. Yet his remarkable mastery of color, both innovative and influential, paved the way for later generations of American colorists. Avery may be America's greatest color poet, but he was also a rigorous draftsman. His figural paintings and prints were artfully configured by distorting body elements (elongating limbs, for example) simplifying contours, flattening volumes, and refining the image with a canny feel for carefully balanced, structural simplicity.


 


"Green Stockings" is a poignant reflection of an artist who continued to innovate and refine his distinctive style even in the final stages of his life. Celebrated for his canny ability to distill subjects to their most essential forms, the artist demonstrates this skill again in this painting. The composition, with its simplified shapes and restrained color palette, embodies Avery's philosophy of distillation—removing the extraneous to reveal the essential. He uses color not as a representation tool but as a structural element. The painting's flat planes of color interact to create a balanced and harmonious whole. Though simply rendered, the green stockings act as a visual anchor, subtly drawing attention to the figure while enhancing the overall composition. This approach reflects Avery's mastery of using color to define space and form without relying on traditional techniques of shading or perspective. Despite the simplicity of the image, there is a depth to the painting that speaks to Avery's lifelong exploration of the interplay between abstraction and representation.
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