Flight 1953

This is Milton Avery’s ‘Flight’, a woodcut made in 1953. The thing that really grabs me is the push and pull between the dark and light, how he’s used these simple, pared-back marks to suggest movement. I’m really drawn to the way he’s handled the texture here, the way the wood grain becomes part of the image, adding a kind of gritty, earthly feel to the lightness of the bird in flight. Look at the body of the bird, how it’s not a smooth white, but broken up with all these little black marks, almost like feathers suggested through negative space. Then, those big, bold wings, patterned with these blobby shapes – they’re so graphic and playful. It feels like Avery is carving out a space for joy, a reminder to look up and see the simple beauty of a bird in the sky. Avery reminds me a little of Matisse, that same love for simple shapes and bold colors. But Avery has a more quiet, personal feel. For both of them, art is not about perfection, but about the joy of seeing.