Playing Checkers

Details

Milton Avery (1885-1965)
Playing Checkers
signed 'Milton Avery' (lower right)
oil on canvas
24 x 16 in. (61 x 40.6 cm.)
Painted circa 1939.

Provenance

The artist.
Max Granick, New York, acquired from the above.
Estate of the above.
Sotheby's, New York, 1 December 1988, lot 314, sold by the above.
Acquired by the late owners from the above.

Literature

R. Ellsworth, et al., The David and Peggy Rockefeller Collection: Arts of Asia and Neighboring Cultures, vol. III, New York, 1993, p. 438, no. 326, illustrated.

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Lot Essay

The present work depicts the artist's wife, Sally Michel Avery, playing a game of checkers against Vincent Spagna, a friend who was also an artist. Playing Checkers was originally owned by Max Granick, a painter and framer to whom Avery may have given this work in exchange for framing.

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