Breaking Sea 1952

Milton Avery made this painting of a "Breaking Sea" with oils, and you can see how he was just pushing the paint around. He wasn't trying to make a perfect picture, more like he was trying to capture a feeling. I think the most exciting thing about this painting is the way Avery handles the paint itself. It's not about hiding the process, but about embracing it. Look at the waves – they’re these raw, drippy strokes of white and blue, like he just flicked the paint onto the canvas and let it do its thing. There’s a real energy in that, a sense of immediacy. The earth tones, those browns and ochres, feel so grounded and solid and the blobs of paint in the sky are like a memory of a cloud. Avery's paintings remind me a bit of Arthur Dove's; both artists use simplified forms and colors to create these very personal, almost dreamlike landscapes. But Avery has his own thing going on. He shows us that art is always a conversation, an exchange of ideas.