Near Salmon Hole 1943

Milton Avery made this line drawing called "Near Salmon Hole" in an unknown year, with what looks like pen on paper. Just look at those squiggles! It's so gestural and evocative. It seems to capture a fleeting moment, a quick impression of the landscape. You can imagine Avery standing there, sketchbook in hand, rapidly translating the scene before him into a web of lines. What was he thinking? Was he trying to capture the light, the movement of the water, or the density of the foliage? I see how the density of the marks creates depth, with lighter areas suggesting openness and air. There's a real sense of energy in those lines, like the landscape itself is vibrating with life. Avery’s drawings always remind me that art-making is such an ongoing conversation across time, inspiring each other’s creativity and thinking. It’s an expression of embodied ambiguity, allowing for multiple interpretations of feeling and meaning.