Artist and Nude 1940

Milton Avery made this painting called 'Artist and Nude' with oil on canvas, and it's interesting to me how he used simplified forms and blocks of color, not trying to mimic reality but instead creating a kind of visual poem. Look at the way he lays down the paint – thin washes that let the canvas breathe. Nothing is overworked, everything feels kind of spontaneous and open. There’s a tenderness in the pinks and blues, a gentleness that I find really appealing. Notice that the artist is faceless with just the pink suggestion of a face, while the nude model is very carefully outlined, as if Avery is reminding us of the relationship of artist and muse. I see connections to Matisse, especially in the flattened perspective and the decorative use of pattern. But Avery has his own thing going on. He embraces the beauty of imperfection and ambiguity, celebrating art as a space where seeing and feeling come together.