Top of Ball Mountain
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
2002.104.2.32
Art Historical Context
Milton Avery's *Top of Ball Mountain*1943) offers a serene glimpse into the artist's masterful handling of landscape, rendered during a pivotal moment in American modernism amid World War II. Avery (1885–1965), often called the "American Matisse" for his bold simplifications and poetic color (though here in monochrome), bridged Impressionism and Abstract Expressionism. This intimate drawing, at just 12.8 × 20 cm, likely captures a personal sojourn to the natural world, evoking quiet elevation and vast skies through economical lines. Executed in pen and black ink on wove paper—a smooth, versat...
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...