Milton Avery (American, 1885-1965) - White Vase

Signed and dated ‘Milton Avery 1957’ bottom right; also titled, signed, and dated verso, oil on canvas laid down to board
20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6cm)

Provenance

Dolan/Maxwell, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Property from the Collection of Dr. Julian Katz and Sheila Moriber Katz, Gladwyne, Pennsylvania.

Lot Essay

Please note that a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the present lot will go to the Julian and Sheila Katz Scholarship Fund at the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Medicine.

Milton Avery's still life paintings of the 1950s mark something of a turning point in his output. While he had always championed vibrant colors and simplified forms, a renewed focus emerged after a major heart attack in 1949. For Avery, according to his wife, Sally, “life became much more important because he had almost lost it. He began to look for different things. I think the very simple things he did were the result of having experienced such a dramatic event in his life. It scared him. It quickened the direction of his work–his colors became more sparse, his forms were more simplified.” Paintings like White Vase exemplify this shift, with even greater emphasis accorded to flat planes and a refined palette. Avery's utilization of color became even more central; here, broad juxtapositions of white, black, and red are prioritized over intricate details, heralding, arguably, the Color Field movement that would take root in the following decade.