Distant Hills 1943

Curator: Here we have Milton Avery's "Distant Hills," a pencil drawing on paper from 1943. Editor: It's really interesting how he’s captured so much mood with such a simple medium. There's a dreamlike, almost melancholic feeling. The varying pencil strokes add to the texture of the scene. Curator: Avery often walked the line between representation and abstraction, influenced by modernism but always maintaining a unique style. During this period, the shadow of World War II loomed large, subtly impacting the arts in ways reflecting a yearning for escape, visible here as an idyllic refuge of nature and perhaps memory. Editor: Absolutely. And it seems to speak to that very sentiment through the material. The portability and simplicity of pencil on paper suggests spontaneity and practicality under constraints – it's a medium fitting the restrictions of wartime and evoking accessibility. Notice the artist's quick notes on the work surface! They highlight the context of making, offering raw, unedited ideas and thoughts right from his own hand. Curator: The Impressionistic quality you pointed out is very important, though I feel it leans more toward modernism; you can certainly see the echoes of the French masters but adapted with the sparseness of line and flattening of form that typifies modernist exploration. He’s also referencing a collective art memory of simpler times that provides a grounding or reassurance during this period. Editor: True, you see him consciously using landscape both as an end and means in itself. There's definitely a process-based expression happening; the mark-making on its own creates the emotional landscape of the drawing. Curator: That's so true, and what's amazing is Avery's understanding of the power of understatement. He uses simple strokes to communicate this powerful sense of serenity and, dare I say, perhaps a glimmer of hope amidst conflict. Editor: "Distant Hills" truly offers such quiet commentary on an otherwise disruptive, loud time. It reminds me of the preciousness of the earth and raw artmaking itself. Curator: Well said. Avery’s unassuming "Distant Hills" truly shows the significance that material art production provides, particularly within broader historical tides of adversity.