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MILTON AVERY
(American, 1893-1965)
Green Sea, 1958
Oil on canvas
18 x 24”
Bequest of George and Susan Proskauer 1992.17.4

Milton Avery, who was largely self-taught as an artist, expressed the vigor of American modernism by balancing his inclination toward abstraction with his devotion to working from nature. In 1925, he moved from his native Connecticut to New York City, where he quickly became immersed in avant-garde artistic circles. A steadfast admirer of Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, Avery eschewed fantastically modeled shapes in favor of simplified forms and flat, luminous colors. (In later years, Avery’s generalized forms and color planes had a strong impact on Adolph Gottlieb, Mark Rothko, and other young artists associated with Abstract Expressionism.) Green Sea was allegedly painted near Provincetown on Cape Cod, where Avery spent the summer of 1957. During his stay, he was deeply affected by his surroundings, and this painting reflects the artist’s interest in rendering peaceful scenes with a minimal amount of detail. Although two figures are included in the center of the picture, the composition is dominated by contrasting geometric planes representing sand, sea, and sky.