Road to the Sea
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Object Label
Like the modernist John Marin before him, Milton Avery described landscapes in a spare and summary way, using a variety of precisely placed touches to suggest the key details of a place. In this view of the rolling coastline of Canada’s rugged Gaspé Peninsula, parallel charcoal lines and strokes of blue wash together indicate the trees on a hillside. Unlike Marin (whose work is also on view here), however, Avery always anchored his shorthand details within an overall composition, based in a few simple outlines and extending to the edges of the sheet.
Caption
Milton Avery American, 1885–1965. Road to the Sea, ca. 1938. Transparent watercolor with small touches of opaque watercolor over charcoal on off-white, moderately thick, rough-textured wove paper, 22 1/2 x 30 5/8 in. (57.2 x 77.8 cm) Frame: 28 x 36 x 1 1/2 in. (71.1 x 91.4 x 3.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Dick S. Ramsay Fund, 43.104. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 43.104_large_SL1.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
Road to the Sea
Date
ca. 1938
Medium
Transparent watercolor with small touches of opaque watercolor over charcoal on off-white, moderately thick, rough-textured wove paper
Classification
Dimensions
22 1/2 x 30 5/8 in. (57.2 x 77.8 cm) Frame: 28 x 36 x 1 1/2 in. (71.1 x 91.4 x 3.8 cm)
Signatures
Signed lower right: "Milton Avery"
Credit Line
Dick S. Ramsay Fund
Accession Number
43.104
Rights
© artist or artist's estate
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Frequent Art Questions
This painting is an abstract representation of the landscape of the Gaspé Peninsula in Québec. In the early 20th century many artists were experimenting with different approaches to, and levels of, abstraction.
If you look closely, you'll notice that Avery has utilized two different types of watercolor (transparent and opaque) as well as charcoal in this work. The variety of markmaking techniques and the thick paper add texture to the work.
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