Hammock Reader / Milton Avery
About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 1974/2.37
- Title
- Hammock Reader
- Artist
- Milton Avery
- Artist Nationality
- American
- Artist Life Dates
- 1885 - 1965
- Medium and Support
- oil on canvas
- Object Creation Date
- 1951
- Object Creation Place
- North and Central America (continent)
- United States (nation)
- Creation Place 1
- North and Central America (continent)
- Creation Place 2
- United States (nation)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Marvin E. Klein
- Style/Group/Movement
- Abstract
- Inscription
- Inscribed l.r.: Milton Avery 1951 Inscribed verso c.: "HAMMOCK READER" / by / Milton Avery / 1951 / 26 x 42
- Dimensions
- 66.3 cm x 106.6 cm (26 1/8 in. x 41 15/16 in.)
- Century
- 20th century
- Primary Object Classification
- Painting
- Primary Object Type
- abstract
- Physical Description
- Painting depicting a featureless female figure, in tones of aqua and light blue extending across the center of the canvas in a light gray hammock. There is a bright white shape, perhaps a book, in the middle of the figure. Behind the figure, the rest of the composition is organized in horizontal sections. At top, a yellow sky; below that are two gently-curved mountains in dark brown, followed by two horizontal planes of color in tan and light brown.
- Subject Matter
- The year this painting was painted, Avery spent the summer in Woodstock, NY with his wife, Sally, and their daughter, March, who is probably the reader in the hammock. This work marks Avery’s later period in which he drops any hint of outline, facial and ornamental detail and concentrates on shape, color and composition. He uses undercoats of color, building, layering and scratching to create depth. He uses muted color values and flat tones—he is concerned with surface qualities rather than density and volume. He emphasized the two-dimensionality of the picture plane and was interested in the inter-relation of color and shapes on a single plane.
- Primary Keywords
- abstract
- book
- books
- figures (representations)
- hammock
- hammocks
- mountains
- reading
- reclining
- shape
- Secondary Keywords
- upward
- attributes and properties
- attributes and properties by specific type
- buildings and the land
- descriptors
- european
- european styles and periods
- figures
- form attributes
- furnishings
- furnishings by form or function
- furniture
- furniture by form or function
- information artifacts
- information artifacts by physical form
- information forms
- landforms
- landforms and landform components
- landforms by shape or position
- landscapes (environments)
- modern and contemporary art
- modern european fine arts styles and movements
- modern european styles and movements
- natural landscapes
- objects
- objects we use
- people and culture
- people and occupations
- physical activities
- physical activities by general context
- settlements and landscapes
- sleeping and reclining furniture
- styles and periods
- styles and periods by region
- visual works
- visual works by subject type
- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Image Size
- 1289 x 863
- File Size
- 65 KB
- Record
- 1974/2.37
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1974-sl-2.37/1974_2.37.jpg
Rights and Permissions
Related Links
Portfolios
- In public portfolios
Cite this Item
View the Help Guide for more information.
- Full citation
-
"Hammock Reader; Milton Avery." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1974-sl-2.37/1974_2.37.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 20, 2024.