Trees by the Sea 1953

Milton Avery made this print called 'Trees by the Sea' in 1955, and what grabs me first is its simplicity, almost like a child's drawing, yet it's so full of feeling and the spirit of a place. It's a play of dark and light, isn't it? The inky blackness contrasted with the brown lines. Look at how he uses these lines—they’re not trying to be perfect, more like gestures. These lines have a real physical presence, they feel carved, raw. There is a real economy of means at work here. It is interesting that Avery made a print of this subject, it is a painting in reverse, a reductive process. The scene is almost abstracted. The trees, or maybe they're just the idea of trees. The sea? Just those horizontal lines. It reminds me a bit of Arthur Dove, that same love for the simple forms of the American landscape, a distillation. This print is a great example of how art isn't about showing us something, it's about making us feel something.