Milton Avery

Makler Gallery, Philadelphia

Private Collection (acquired from the above by 1985)

Thence by descent to the present owner

Milton Avery’s expressive brushwork and stylized forms in Mountain Meadow exemplify both the artist’s mature style and the inspiration he found in the natural world. Four cows graze along a grassy hillside in the foreground, dwarfed by clumps of trees and rolling hills that rise in the background in harmonizing shades of blue and green. In the present work, Avery uses semi-translucent watercolors with varying opacity, lending subtle dimension to the monochrome forms. Mountain Meadow is a remarkably cohesive composition, as the receding hills echo one and other in both form and color.

Executed in 1954, Mountain Meadow coincides with one of three summers Avery spent as a fellow at the MacDowell Art Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, which continues to open its doors to contemporary artists through fellowships and residencies to this day. Avery’s time spent in Peterborough gradually increased the artist's interest in woodland landscapes such as Mountain Meadow, diversifying his oeuvre which had previously been dominated by his signature figure paintings and seascapes. Though approaching a different subject matter, Avery imparts his canvas with the same palpable energy and enthusiasm evident in his earlier work.