Head of March
1951
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
lithograph in black on laid paper
Dimensions
sheet: 30.3 x 22.2 cm (11 15/16 x 8 3/4 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Harvey S. Shipley Miller
Accession Number
1991.72.2
Art Historical Context
Milton Avery's *Head of March* (1951) is a striking black lithograph on laid paper, just over 11 by 8 inches, now housed in the National Gallery of Art as a gift from Harvey S. Shipley Miller Created at the height of Avery's career, this print exemplifies his distinctive modernist approach, characterized by simplified forms and a poetic economy of line. Avery, an influential American artist (1885–1965), bridged European modernism—like Matisse's bold contours—with the emerging vitality of Abstract Expressionism, though his work remained uniquely personal and lyrical. Lithography, the medium he...
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...