Vermont Landscape 1943

Milton Avery made this landscape with ink on paper. I like to think of him outside somewhere, sketchbook in hand, trying to capture the essence of Vermont. You can feel the landscape emerging through the scratches and scribbles, a dance between observation and imagination. I bet he was just trying to capture the feeling of the trees. Look at how Avery uses these rapid marks to build up the textures of the foliage and the mountains in the distance. It’s like he’s thinking through the pen, letting the landscape speak through his hand. Sometimes I think that’s all painting is anyway, a conversation between the artist and the world. We all try to capture something, some artists do it with abstraction and some with landscapes. Avery's just letting loose and having fun with the landscape. And maybe that’s the real Vermont he’s showing us, a place of freedom and expression, which makes me think of his influence on painters like Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman.