Nude
1953
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
woodcut in black on wove paper
Dimensions
image: 9.2 x 27 cm (3 5/8 x 10 5/8 in.) sheet: 19.8 x 44.8 cm (7 13/16 x 17 5/8 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
1991.233.55
Art Historical Context
Milton Avery's *Nude* (1953) captures the artist's distinctive modernist sensibility in a compact woodcut, rendered in bold black ink on smooth wove paper. Measuring just 9.2 x 27 cm for the image, this intimate print exemplifies Avery's ability to distill the human form into simplified, flowing contours and rhythmic lines. Known primarily as a painter influenced by Henri Matisse and early Abstract Expressionists, Avery occasionally ventured into printmaking, where his economical style shines through monochromatic contrasts. Woodcuts, one of the oldest printmaking techniques, involve carving ...
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...