Accession Number
1997/1.112

Title
Sketches

Artist(s)
Milton Avery

Artist Nationality
American (North American)

Object Creation Date
1951

Medium & Support
ink on paper

Dimensions
16 13/16 in x 13 7/8 in (42.7 cm x 35.24 cm);24 1/16 in x 19 1/8 in (61.12 cm x 48.58 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of the Lannan Foundation in Honor of the Pelham Family

Subject matter
Milton Avery was a figurative artist whose work cannot be defined by a particular style or movement. He was known for his paintings which were colorful and often simple and flat in style depicting everyday scenes and figures. For example, the roosters in this sketch recall Avery's 1947 painting, White Rooster. He was friends with many prominent Abstract Expressionists including Mark Rothko (who was influenced by Avery), Adolph Gottlieb, and Barnett Newman. He was influenced by Henri Matisse, particularly by his use of color. 

Physical Description
This drawing is a series of sketches, organized loosely in three registers: seven boxes in three uneven rows. In the top row there are two are sketches of men from the shoulders up wearing loose-necked, casual sweaters or shirts. The man in the first box wears a black beret. The third box is a sketch of a landscape with a bird perched on a railing. In the second and third rows there are two boxes. In each row, on the left there is a sketch of a rooster in front of a landscape, and on the right there is a sketch of a man from the shoulders up. The man in the bottom row (row three) wears a flat-topped hat. 

Primary Object Classification
Drawing

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
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Keywords
Aves (class)
berets
bust-length
chickens
faces
head
men (male humans)
modern and contemporary art
portrait heads
sketches
trees