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Lot Essay
In Window on the Bay, Milton Avery elegantly juxtaposes a pastel pink and green abstracted seascape with a bold red curtain and rich black windowsill that separate the viewer from the stunning view outside. This clever combination of interior and landscape compositions invites the viewer into the scene as the artist looks out onto what may depict the coast of Provincetown, Massachusetts. This locale inspired an important body of Avery’s work throughout the 1950s and 60s when he was working alongside Mark Rothko, Adolph Gottlieb and Barnett Newman. Elevated by his skill as a colorist, the present work masterfully demonstrates Avery’s ability to capture the essence of the world around him in his own distinct style of Modernism that would influence a range of important Post-War artists in the generation to follow.
Avery’s Provincetown paintings, likely including Window on the Bay, are characterized by a “paring back of detail and near-abstraction of much of the form[s], as well as…muted hues” that favor a visually Modern and evocative—rather than directly representational—depiction of the artist’s surroundings. (E. Devaney, “Milton Avery: ‘Poet Inventor,’” Milton Avery, exhibition catalogue, London, 2021, p. 24) Creating a field of dappled pastel tones outside the window, the present work from 1955 anticipates some of Avery’s most iconic seascapes from his later career, including Sea Grasses and Blue Sea (1958, The Museum of Modern Art, New York), Speedboat’s Wake (1959, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) and Dunes and Sea II (1960, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York). In a description that also applies to the current work, Robert Hobbs writes of these later seascapes, “Detail is held to a minimum, and the relationships between land, sea, and sky are carefully balanced…Avery’s forms are soft and his surfaces are matte. The softness of the forms transforms each flat painting into an environment with a distinct atmosphere, an effect enhanced by the soft edges suggestive of intimacy.” (Milton Avery, New York, 1990, p. 202)
These large-scale abstracted landscapes, which reference the environment yet hinge on the edge of abstraction, exerted a highly important influence on Post-War American artists, including Rothko, Gottlieb and Newman. According to Avery’s wife Sally Michel, these three artists often spent summers with the Averys in Massachusetts, and “Rothko and Gottlieb would come around and study his paintings and just absorb them by osmosis.” (as quoted in Milton Avery & The End of Modernism, Roslyn Harbor, New York, 2011, p. 32)
A stunning evocation of land and sea, Window on the Bay demonstrates Avery’s shift toward increasingly abstracted forms throughout the 1950s. The strong verticality and impressive scale encompass the viewer, inviting us to enjoy the view alongside the artist. A lyrical impression of a bright day, the present work is emblematic of Avery’s ability to paint feeling, in addition to form.
Avery’s Provincetown paintings, likely including Window on the Bay, are characterized by a “paring back of detail and near-abstraction of much of the form[s], as well as…muted hues” that favor a visually Modern and evocative—rather than directly representational—depiction of the artist’s surroundings. (E. Devaney, “Milton Avery: ‘Poet Inventor,’” Milton Avery, exhibition catalogue, London, 2021, p. 24) Creating a field of dappled pastel tones outside the window, the present work from 1955 anticipates some of Avery’s most iconic seascapes from his later career, including Sea Grasses and Blue Sea (1958, The Museum of Modern Art, New York), Speedboat’s Wake (1959, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) and Dunes and Sea II (1960, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York). In a description that also applies to the current work, Robert Hobbs writes of these later seascapes, “Detail is held to a minimum, and the relationships between land, sea, and sky are carefully balanced…Avery’s forms are soft and his surfaces are matte. The softness of the forms transforms each flat painting into an environment with a distinct atmosphere, an effect enhanced by the soft edges suggestive of intimacy.” (Milton Avery, New York, 1990, p. 202)
These large-scale abstracted landscapes, which reference the environment yet hinge on the edge of abstraction, exerted a highly important influence on Post-War American artists, including Rothko, Gottlieb and Newman. According to Avery’s wife Sally Michel, these three artists often spent summers with the Averys in Massachusetts, and “Rothko and Gottlieb would come around and study his paintings and just absorb them by osmosis.” (as quoted in Milton Avery & The End of Modernism, Roslyn Harbor, New York, 2011, p. 32)
A stunning evocation of land and sea, Window on the Bay demonstrates Avery’s shift toward increasingly abstracted forms throughout the 1950s. The strong verticality and impressive scale encompass the viewer, inviting us to enjoy the view alongside the artist. A lyrical impression of a bright day, the present work is emblematic of Avery’s ability to paint feeling, in addition to form.