David Park and Milton Avery

Following the Armory Show debut of the first major exhibition to pair the work of David Park (1911-1960) and Milton Avery (1885-1965), we are pleased to present an intimate and immersive vision of the exhibition at our Atelier from April 10 – May 31st.

Bringing together two of the twentieth-century’s most influential figurative painters, we examine the paintings from the 1930s-1960s to reveal how Park and Avery borrowed from everyday life, a stark contrast to the dominant objective style, to become painters in full command of their unique styles. For Park, returning to the figure allowed him to celebrate that which surrounded him, often his domestic life with his wife, though he did so by incorporating some shared techniques with the Abstract Expressionists, namely thick, visceral paint application and strong gestural brushwork. While Park is credited as the founder of Bay Area Figurative movement in California, Avery continued to chart his artistic trajectory on the East Coast, operating outside the New York School. Avery is known for alleviating excess pictorial elements and details in order to focus on his true subject: color. His figures, often depicting his wife and daughter, exist amid broad, flat, expanses of color fields. Both artists explored their signature formal and technical styles through personal subject matter, offering glimpses into their worlds and restoring a level of intimacy to American painting.