Large Tree 1943

Milton Avery made this study with graphite on paper, and you can almost see him outside, sketching in a notebook. He used line to find the essential forms. I imagine Avery standing there, squinting a little, trying to capture the way the light filters through the branches. There's a sense of immediacy, like he's trying to distill the essence of the scene before it changes. The lines are tentative, searching, as if he's feeling his way through the subject, trusting his intuition. Avery is very good at simplifying things down to their bare bones, but that one zigzag is my favourite; it communicates a whole world of organic stuff! This reminds me of Guston's late drawings, where he used simple, almost cartoonish lines to convey profound emotions. Artists are always in conversation with each other across time, riffing on each other's ideas, pushing the boundaries of what painting can be. And that's what makes it so exciting! I love the way the artist’s own movement gets caught in a drawing like this.