I have never heard of him but I can see why they say he is "America's Matisse".
| MILTON AVERY |
| (Untitled) Woman in Blue, c.1939 oil on canvas, 36 1/4 x 28 in. |
Often characterized as America’s Matisse, Milton Avery had his own unique vision that made him a quintessentially American artist. His independence manifested in his art and on his own terms: big flat shapes, non-associated colors, and no emphasis on light, shade, or heavy modeling. Executed towards the end of the Great Depression, Avery’s use of paint in Woman in Blue is undoubtedly informed by the austerity of the time. Here Avery achieves glowing color through deftly brushed washes of paint as the canvas offers contrasting fields of transparent and opaque applications, and Avery’s unrivaled glowing colors and simplified forms made him a lasting influence on painters throughout the twentieth century. |
