Milton Avery (American, 1885-1965) Blonde Nude, 1960 Oil on canvasboard 24 x 20 inches (61.0 x 50.8 cm) Signed and dated lower right: Milton Avery 1960 Signed, dated, titled, and inscribed on the reverse: Blonde Nude / Milton Avery / 20 x 24 / 1960 PROVENANCE: Terry Dintenfass, Inc., New York; Dr. and Mrs. Bernard J. Ronis, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, acquired from the above; By descent to the present owner. This lot is accompanied by a letter of opinion from The Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, New York. Painted in 1960, Blonde Nude brings together the Matisse-like sensibility of Milton Avery's paintings of the 1940s and the greater economy of his late work. Its flattened space, expressive color, and simplified figure reflect a sustained investigation into how a painting could remain rooted in observation while approaching abstraction. By this time, Avery had spent decades developing the ideas that helped establish him as an important predecessor and mentor to painters associated with Color Field painting, notably Mark Rothko. In the present work, a seated woman occupies nearly the entire composition. Her bowed head and forward-leaning posture suggest quiet concentration, while her golden hair conceals much of her face. Avery defines the body through broad passages of pale pink, using only a few restrained lines to distinguish the overlapping limbs. The curve of her back meets a striking area of yellow drapery, which provides the painting's brightest accent. Behind her, a warm peach background and brown lower plane establish the setting with minimal spatial description. These carefully balanced colors give the figure both visual weight and a sense of stillness. In Blonde Nude, Avery's expressive color and simplified forms recall the qualities that earned him comparisons with Henri Matisse and the designation "American Fauve." The softened palette and spare treatment of anatomy also reflect the evolution of his work during the 1950s, as he increasingly eliminated incidental details and relied on relationships among colors to convey emotion and organize space. His experiments with monotype, begun in 1949, encouraged a more fluid application of paint and greater attention to subtle variations in surface. Here, visible brushwork lends texture and depth to the broad passages of color, enriching the painting's deliberately flattened forms. Avery explained this balance between observation and invention in 1951: "I am not seeking pure abstraction; rather the purity and essence of the idea—expressed in its simplest form" (R. Hobbs, Milton Avery, New York, 1990, p. 166). Here, the figure remains unmistakably human, even as her body, hair, and surroundings become an arrangement of interlocking shapes. Avery's influence on younger painters developed through longstanding friendships with Rothko and Adolph Gottlieb, renewed during summers together in Provincetown between 1957 and 1960. Their exchange was reciprocal, with each exploring the structural and expressive possibilities of color. Rothko acknowledged Avery's achievement in his 1965 eulogy: "His is the poetry of sheer loveliness." Blonde Nude gives that assessment a tangible form, demonstrating how Avery could simplify a familiar subject while preserving its intimacy and emotional presence. HID12401132022 © 2026 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved www.HA.com/TexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice

Terry Dintenfass, Inc., New York; Dr. and Mrs. Bernard J. Ronis, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, acquired from the above; By descent to the present owner.

Scattered pindot surface accretions. Under UV examination: there do not appear to be any signs of inpaint or previous restoration. Traces of an earlier signature underneath the paint layer at lower right.
Framed Dimensions 30 X 26 Inches