Trees by the Sea 1953

Milton Avery pulled this print of Trees by the Sea in 1955. Imagine him in his studio, carving into the block, figuring out how to translate what he saw into these bold shapes and stark contrasts. The dark, inky blacks are punctuated by those warm, earthy browns, creating a real sense of depth and mystery. There’s something so elemental about it, isn’t there? It makes me think about his process, how he reduced the landscape to these essential forms. Look at the way he simplified those trees, turning them into these almost whimsical, serpentine lines. I bet he was thinking about Matisse and maybe even Marsden Hartley, simplifying everything down to its bare bones. It’s like he's saying so much with so little. That's the magic of painting, isn't it?