Milton Avery

A collection of the artist's relief prints, 1952-1955, comprising fifty-one woodcuts and one linoleum cut, each signed in pencil and dated, inscribed proofs printed by the artist, each framed (52 prints)

The prints are in good condition, with margins. Minor imperfections in the margins comprise occasional soft or flattened handling creases and stray printer's ink, both largely inherent to the hand-printing process, some sheets with pale light-stain. For detailed information and a condition report for the individual prints, please contact the department or view the e-catalogue at www.sothebys.com.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Avery carved a total of twenty-one woodcuts and one linoleum cut.  This collection includes examples of each of these blocks and many of the color variants cited by Lunn.  Additional proofs included in the collection and not previously recorded are as follows:

A unique double-impression proof of Fish (L. 41) printed in green and yellow
Flight (L. 51) printed in yellow and black, dated a year earlier than the editions and numbered 1/25, a rare trial proof not published in an edition
Flight (L. 51) printed in olive and black, a unique color variant
A Beach Birds (L. 55 i) trial proof printed in black with variations in the upper and lower registers of the block

EXHIBITED
The Midland Art Council of the Midland Center for the Arts, Inc., Midland, MI, Milton Avery Woodcuts: 1952-1955, Aug. 28-Oct. 2, 1983

The Saginaw Art Museum, Saginaw, MI, Milton Avery Woodcuts: 1952-1955, Dec. 18-Jan. 15, 1984

Art is like turning corners, one never knows what is around the corner until one has made the turn...
Milton Avery

The directness and immediacy with which Donald Sellers became engaged with Avery's prints echoed the artist's own hands-on approach to the medium and what started with a few examples led Mr. Seller's to form this incomparable collection of proofs. He credits his interest to Donald Morris, the Detroit area representative of the artist's estate and to Una E. Johnson's text for the 1966 Brooklyn Museum's exhibition catalogue. He was further aided by David Zelman of the London Arts Gallery and by Harry Lunn. In fact, the assemblage of color variants and unique pulls serves as an expansion of Lunn's 1973 catalogue raisonné, produced in conjunction with a Milton Avery Print Retrospective at the Corcoran Gallery of Art that year.

Milton Avery's woodcuts are independent works, largely unrelated to his paintings and produced during a short period of three years from 1952-55.  Avery created his first woodcut, Dawn, in response to a request from Emily Francis for an edition for Collectors of American Art.  His friend and artist Steve Pace provided him with his first pine block, gouge and guidance printing the first edition.  Thereafter, Avery developed his technique through explorations in varied registration, color, pressure and ever further simplified forms.  He preferred the directness and immediacy of woodcut and drypoint over the remove of etching and lithography.  Avery printed each impression individually by hand by rubbing the sheet with the back of a large spoon.  This direct printing approach allowed Avery to vary his effects through various inks and pressures.  The subject matter of Avery's woodcuts and linocut are "a domestic, unheroic cast," to quote Mark Rothko's memorial address for his friend and mentor in 1965.  His fish and fowl are "fellow-creatures" to the human world and his prints explore a "profound equality among all things visible."[1]  In this collection, the three variants of Fish exemplify Avery's technique and interests.  The impression printed in black emphasizes the grain of the pine plank, allowing the horizontal lines of the background to translate as watery currents.  On the other hand, the Fish printed in blue shows swirls of pressure over the background grains, recalling instead ripples and eddies through Avery's manipulation of the spoon.  The unique double impression printed in green and yellow juxtaposes the two mirror-images, underlining the formal relationship between shapes and negative space. The broad, flat forms of woodcut and linocut provided a platform for Avery to explore the subtle rhythm of patterns and the essential forms of his visible world. 

[1] Frank Getlein, catalogue statement, Milton Avery's Birds & Beasts, 1931-1963, published by the Harmon-Meek Gallery, 1986, p. 9.