Rooster
1953
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
color woodcut on wove paper
Dimensions
image: 24.6 x 18 cm (9 11/16 x 7 1/16 in.) sheet: 31.1 x 30.4 cm (12 1/4 x 11 15/16 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
1991.233.62
Art Historical Context
Milton Avery's *Rooster* (1953) captures the artist's distinctive modernist style in a vibrant color woodcut on wove paper. Avery, a pivotal American painter (1885–1965), was renowned for poetic simplification of forms, bold color harmonies, and flattened perspectives that bridged realism and abstraction. This print exemplifies his mature work, where everyday subjects like animals become vehicles for emotional resonance and visual rhythm, influencing younger artists such as Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman. Printed from carved woodblocks—a labor-intensive relief technique requiring separate blo...
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...