Near Salmon Hole
1943
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
pen and black ink on wove paper
Dimensions
overall: 12.8 x 20 cm (5 1/16 x 7 7/8 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Sally Michel Avery
Accession Number
2002.104.2.60
Art Historical Context
Milton Avery's *Near Salmon Hole* (1943) is a delicate pen and black ink drawing on wove paper, measuring just5 1/16 x 7 7/8 inches. Created during World War II, this intimate work captures the artist's keen eye for nature, likely evoking a serene riverside scene near a fishing spot—a motif that recurs in Avery's oeuvre. The smooth wove paper provides an ideal surface for his precise, fluid lines, allowing subtle textures and forms to emerge with economy and grace. Avery (1885–1965), a pivotal American modernist, is celebrated for bridging Impressionism and Abstract Expressionism through simp...
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...