Fancy Bird
1953
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
color woodcut on wove paper
Dimensions
image: 9.3 x 17.5 cm (3 11/16 x 6 7/8 in.) sheet: 12.8 x 24.1 cm (5 1/16 x 9 1/2 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of the Avery Family, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art
Accession Number
1991.233.48
Art Historical Context
Milton Avery's *Fancy Bird* (1953) is a delightful color woodcut on wove paper, capturing artist's signature blend of whimsy and modernism. Measuring just 9.3 x 17.5 cm, this intimate print likely depicts a stylized bird in Avery's characteristically flattened, poetic style—bold colors and simplified forms that evoke emotion over realism. Avery, a pivotal American modernist (1885–1965), influenced Abstract Expressionists like Mark Rothko through his innovative use of color space, bridging European modernism post-war American art. The woodcut medium is key here: Avery hand-carved blocks for ea...
About the Artist
Milton Avery
Milton Avery, born on March 7, 1885, in Altmar, New York, to a working-class family—his father a tanner—grew up in modest circumstances. After his family's move to the Hartford area of Connecticut in 1898, he took on various manual jobs, including as a mechanic, clerk, and construction worker, to support himself and relatives following family tragedies. His artistic path began around 1905 at the C...