Hint of Autumn

Details

Milton Avery (1885-1965)
Hint of Autumn
signed and dated 'Milton Avery 1954' (lower left)--signed and dated again and inscribed with title (on reverse)
oil on canvas
53¼ x 34 in. (136.5 x 86.4 cm.)

Provenance

[With]Grace Borgenicht Gallery, Inc., New York, by 1976.
Acquired by the present owner from the above, 1981.

Literature

M. Avery, S. Terenzio, Milton Avery and the Landscape, exhibition catalogue, Storrs, Connecticut, 1976, pp. 32, 48, no. 34, illustrated.
M. Avery, Milton Avery: Drawings and Paintings, exhibition catalogue, Austin, Texas, 1976, p. 21.
B.L. Grad, Milton Avery, Royal Oak, Michigan, 1981, p. 7, no. 27, illustrated.
B. Haskell, Milton Avery, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1982, pp. 87, 124, no. 65, illustrated.
B. Haskell, "Milton Avery: 'Why Talk When You Can Paint?'," Portfolio, New York, September/October 1982, vol. IV, no. 5, pp. 79-80, illustrated.
R. Hobbs, H. Kramer, Milton Avery, New York, 1990, pp. 22, 182, 187, illustrated.
R. Hobbs, Milton Avery: The Late Paintings, exhibition catalogue, New York, 2001, pp. 30, 64, 104, pl. 24, illustrated.

Exhibited

Storrs, Connecticut, The William Benton Museum of Art, Milton Avery and the Landscape, March 15-April 16, 1976, no. 34.
Summit, New Jersey, Summit Art Center, and elsewhere, Milton Avery: Drawings and Paintings, March 13-May 1, 1977.
Sarasota, Florida, John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Milton Avery Retrospective Exhibition, September 23-October 31, 1977.
Wichita, Kansas, Wichita State University, Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art, Milton Avery Paintings and Prints, November 30, 1977-January 15, 1978.
New York, Grace Borgenicht Gallery, Inc., Milton Avery: Major Paintings, April 15-May 9, 1981.
New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, Milton Avery, September 15-December 5, 1982.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Milwaukee Art Museum, and elsewhere, Milton Avery: The Late Paintings, November 30-January 27, 2002, no. 25.

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Lot Essay

Barbara Haskell writes: "The 1954 canvas Hint of Autumn manifests Avery's continuing drive toward simplification of form. He gradually made his imagery more and more abstract, obliterating detail and using thinner washes of color. In a catalogue for a 1951 exhibition at the University of Illinois, he described his philosophy and his working process succinctly: 'I like to seize the one sharp instant in Nature, to imprison it by means of ordered shapes and space relationships. To this end, I eliminate and simplify, leaving apparently nothing but color and pattern. I am not seeking pure abstraction, rather the purity and essence of the idea--expressed in its simplest form.'" ("Milton Avery: 'Why Talk when You Can Paint?'," Portfolio, New York, September/October 1982, p. 79)

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