Fantail Pigeon
1953
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
woodcut in black on wove paper
Dimensions
image: 25.4 x 24.6 cm (10 x 9 11/16 in.) sheet: 38.9 x 31 cm (15 5/16 x 12 3/16 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
1991.233.50
Art Historical Context
Milton Avery's *Fantail Pigeon* (1953) captures the elegant form of its namesake bird—a domesticated breed prized for its dramatic, fan-like tail feathers—in a striking black woodcut on wove paper. Avery, a pivotal American modernist painter (1885–1965), was renowned for his simplified shapes, flattened forms, and subtle color harmonies that bridged realism and abstraction, influencing artists like Mark Rothko. Though best known for oils, this print showcases his rare foray into printmaking late in his career, distilling the pigeon's poised silhouette into bold, economical lines measuring 25.4...
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...