Milton Avery (1893-1965) was famous for simplifying forms. He refined and refined them in search of their poetic core.
I love his painting of a spring orchard:
Here are two of his paintings of the sea shore at night:
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Through his simplification process, Avery discovered lyrical forms that no one else saw. For example, this is his painting of an industrial gas tank on the island of San Tropez:
When it came to painting the human figure, Avery simplified the clothing right off them:
In this preliminary drawing, Avery explored where to draw the line:
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| Three different attempts to figure out just how far to go. |
A neat little reminder for artists in the new year: until you’ve gone too far, you’ll never really know if you’ve gone far enough.
Wishing you all a happy, healthy 2024!