.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Throughout his career, Milton Avery repeatedly returned to depictions of the American coast and the sea, exploring its rhythms and forms in a progressively abstract manner. Simultaneously, his depictions of animals have been a cornerstone of his oeuvre—including images of chickens, goats, pigs and birds. Painted in 1951, Soaring Gulls combines these two signature themes into a dynamic and charismatic image.
Avery reduces the natural environment in the present work to its most essential elements. Epitomizing one of his quintessential compositional formats, the artist divides the background into three horizontal layers of monochromatic color fields reminiscent of his dear friend and contemporary Mark Rothko—soft peach sky along the top edge, navy-black sea for the middle ground, and earthy brown land in the foreground. He then adds vitality to the scene by texturizing the middle ground with the back of his paintbrush, creating hundreds of waves rippling across the horizon. Four seagulls descend into the composition, painted in a white that starkly contrasts against the sky. As with many of his animals, Avery prioritizes color and form over detail, seeking to capture the style and personality of his subject.
Soaring Gulls demonstrates how Avery’s experimentation with color fields made him such an influence to the following generation of Abstract Expressionist painters, including Rothko and Adolph Gottlieb. Yet, Avery never fully abandoned representation, delighting throughout his career in evoking the follies to be found amidst the fauna and flora he found on his travels.
Avery reduces the natural environment in the present work to its most essential elements. Epitomizing one of his quintessential compositional formats, the artist divides the background into three horizontal layers of monochromatic color fields reminiscent of his dear friend and contemporary Mark Rothko—soft peach sky along the top edge, navy-black sea for the middle ground, and earthy brown land in the foreground. He then adds vitality to the scene by texturizing the middle ground with the back of his paintbrush, creating hundreds of waves rippling across the horizon. Four seagulls descend into the composition, painted in a white that starkly contrasts against the sky. As with many of his animals, Avery prioritizes color and form over detail, seeking to capture the style and personality of his subject.
Soaring Gulls demonstrates how Avery’s experimentation with color fields made him such an influence to the following generation of Abstract Expressionist painters, including Rothko and Adolph Gottlieb. Yet, Avery never fully abandoned representation, delighting throughout his career in evoking the follies to be found amidst the fauna and flora he found on his travels.