East Jamaica Road 1943

Milton Avery made this pencil drawing, East Jamaica Road, directly in a sketchbook, probably en plein air. Look at the way the graphite renders the scene—it's all about the process of seeing, feeling, and marking. It's like Avery is thinking through his hand, letting the pencil dance across the page to map out the landscape. The marks aren't precious; they're raw and immediate. See how the lines vary in weight and direction, creating a sense of depth and movement? It reminds me of Cy Twombly's scribbled landscapes, where the act of drawing becomes a record of a fleeting moment. The bottom left corner has a particularly nice gestural quality, the way the pencil scratches, almost frenetically, it feels like a moment of pure expression. Avery wasn't interested in photographic realism; he sought to capture the essence of a place through simple forms and expressive lines. It's a reminder that art isn't about perfect representation; it's about the ongoing conversation between the artist, the world, and the materials at hand.