Milton Avery – The American Matisse of High Competence
American artist Milton Clark Avery was born on March 07, 1885, in Sand Bank (Altmar), New York to a tanner Russell N and his wife Esther March Avery. His family moved to Connecticut in 1898. At the age of 16, Avery left studies and started working at the Hartford Machine and Screw Company. He lost his father in 1905 and struggled through a series of factory jobs to support his family. Owing to his interest in art, he attended classes at the Connecticut League of Art Students in Hartford. His works were first exhibited at the Annex Gallery of Wadsworth Athenaeum (Hartford) in 1915.
Milton Avery moved to New York in 1925, where he married a young art illustrator Sally Michel. They had a daughter March Avery (1932) who is also an artist. Due to Sally’s steady income, Avery was now able to pursue his passion of painting full time and joined the Art Students Leagues of New York. His works were displayed in the exhibition of the Society of Independent Artist in 1927. Two of his works were exhibited at The Opportunity Gallery in 1928 for a group exhibition. Here, Avery met and befriended artist Mark Rothko (1903-1970) for life. The same year he had his first solo exhibition in New York at the Frank K.M. Rehn Gallery.
In 1929, Duncan Phillips purchased Avery’s painting ‘Winter Riders’ (1929) for his museum The Phillips Collection in Washington. The museum also held his first solo exhibition in 1944. Soon Avery earned a sound reputation in the art world. He was represented by The Valentine Gallery during 1935-43 and by the Paul Rosenberg Gallery during 1943-50. Roy Neuberger (an American financer) was a huge admirer and supporter of the painter. He bought a large number of Avery’s paintings during 1940’s and donated or lent them to museums around the world, which brought global recognition to the painter. Milton suffered his first major heart attack in 1949. In 1951, he joined the Grace Borgenicht Gallery in New York. His first visit to Europe was in 1952. He spent most of the summers of mid 1950’s visiting various art colonies in and outside U.S.
Henri Matisse (1869-1954) and German Expressionism highly influenced Milton Avery. His paintings were fantastical representations full of vibrant colors. His subjects varied from portraits to still life to landscapes. After his second heart attack in 1960, his health constantly deteriorated, but he did not stop painting until 1964. Milton Avery died in New York on January 03, 1965. He was buried in Artists Cemetery in Woodstock (New York).
Annette Labedzki received her BFA at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. She has more than 25 years experience. She is the founder and developer of an online art gallery featuring original art from all over the world. Please visit the website at http://www.Labedzki-Art.com It is a great site for art collectors to buy original art. Artists can join for free and their image upload is unlimited.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Annette_Labedzki
Mail this post
Tags: Milton and