Milton Avery (American, 1885–1965). *Bucolic Landscape*, 1945. Oil on canvas, 32 x 48 inches (81.3 x 121.9 cm). Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; Room of Contemporary Art Fund, 1946 (RCA1946:2). © Estate of Milton Avery / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

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Milton Avery

American, 1885-1965

Bucolic Landscape, 1945

oil on canvas

support: 32 x 48 inches (81.28 x 121.92 cm); framed: 40 x 55 3/4 x 3 3/4 inches (101.6 x 141.61 x 9.53 cm)

Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York

Room of Contemporary Art Fund, 1946

RCA1946:2

Collection Highlight

More Details

Inscriptions

signature, dated / lower right / Milton Avery 1945

Provenance

the artist;
Durand-Ruel Gallery, New York;
sold to the Albright Art Gallery, May 6, 1946

Class

Paintings

Work Type

Oil painting

Information may change due to ongoing research.Glossary of Terms

Milton Avery loved nature, and often blurred the lines of reality with his vivacious and, at times, surreal color palette. The quietly humorous Bucolic Landscape features a large yellow cow resting peacefully in a field with gently rolling hills in the background. The cow, its bony anatomy defined in only a few bold lines, dominates the scene. It is lying down, facing away from us. Seemingly soft and rounded black ears separated by a small, white tuft of hair function like antennae at the sides of its head. Avery had two goals he wanted to achieve in his paintings and commented that, “I try to construct a picture in which shapes, spaces, [and] colors form a set of unique relationships, independent of any subject matter. At the same time, I try to capture and translate the excitement and emotion aroused in me by the impact with the original idea.”