Two Figures in a Landscape 1943

Milton Avery made this sketch of two figures in a landscape with pen on paper, and it's all about the joy of looking and the immediacy of the mark. Avery's line is so casual, almost like he's just letting his hand wander across the page. There's a real sense of play. The whole thing is built from these quick, confident strokes, a kind of shorthand for seeing. Look at the way he suggests the folds of the seated figure's dress, or the scrabble of lines that make up the landscape. Nothing is overworked, everything is fresh and alive. Avery’s drawings are like little poems. You might compare them to work by Bonnard, another artist who saw the world as a collection of fleeting impressions. Avery’s work reminds us that art is an ongoing conversation, full of echoes and reinterpretations, and that meaning is always open to change.