Milton Avery
Breaking Sea
1951
Scroll
Milton Avery
Breaking Sea
1951
Physical Qualities
Oil on canvas, Framed: 39 1/4 x 49 1/8 x 2 3/4 in. (99.7 x 124.8 x 7 cm) Sight: 28 3/4 x 38 1/2 in. (73 x 97.8 cm)
Credit Line
Frederic W. Cone Fund
Object Number
1953.227
Characterized by one critic as “Thoreau in the midst of the Gold Rush,” Milton Avery coolly rejected the trend for Abstract Expressionism, preferring instead to create lyrical canvases such as Breaking Sea. His fluent oil paint, handled like watercolor, invites serene contemplation while revealing a poetic flair for pattern. Long comfortable with modernist developments in French and German painting, Avery finally made his first trip to Europe in 1952, the same year he painted this work. In December of that year, his first retrospective exhibition opened at the BMA before traveling to four additional cities. Breaking Sea was one of the works that Avery lent to the exhibition. It was acquired by the BMA shortly afterward.
Baltimore Museum of Art, 'Paintings by Milton Avery, 1928-1952', Dec. 1952 - Jan. 1953, catalog no. 80. Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; Lowe Gallery, Coral Gables, FL; Phillips Gallery, Washington D.C.; Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Conn.
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, 'New Accessions, U.S.A.', July 1 - September 6, 1954, cat. no. 4
American Federation of Arts, 'Milton Avery Retrospective', February 1960 - February 1962.
Museum of Modern Art, 'Milton Avery', May 1965 - December 1966. circulated to Phillips Collection; Hunter Gallery of Art; Mercer University; Indiana University; Mary Washington College, University of Virginia; Michigan State University; Coe College; Witte Memorial Museum; Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center; Madison Art Center;Ithaca College Museum of Art; Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute.
National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution 'Milton Avery', December 11, 1969 - January 25, 1970, cat. no. 59, circulated to The Brooklyn Museum; Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts
Whitney Museum of American Art, 'Milton Avery'. September 15, 1982 - September 11, 1983. circulated to Carnegie Institute Museum of Art; Albright-Knox Art Gallery; Denver Art Museum; Walker Art Center.
American Federation of Arts, 'Milton Avery: The Late Paintings,' Milwaulkee Museum of Art, November 30, 2001-January 27, 2002; Norton Museum of Art, February 15-April 15, 2002; UCLA Hammer Museum, LA, May 24, 2002 - September 8, 2002.
BMA, "American Modernism from the Collection," June 25, 2003-
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, 'New Accessions, U.S.A.', July 1 - September 6, 1954, cat. no. 4
American Federation of Arts, 'Milton Avery Retrospective', February 1960 - February 1962.
Museum of Modern Art, 'Milton Avery', May 1965 - December 1966. circulated to Phillips Collection; Hunter Gallery of Art; Mercer University; Indiana University; Mary Washington College, University of Virginia; Michigan State University; Coe College; Witte Memorial Museum; Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center; Madison Art Center;Ithaca College Museum of Art; Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute.
National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution 'Milton Avery', December 11, 1969 - January 25, 1970, cat. no. 59, circulated to The Brooklyn Museum; Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts
Whitney Museum of American Art, 'Milton Avery'. September 15, 1982 - September 11, 1983. circulated to Carnegie Institute Museum of Art; Albright-Knox Art Gallery; Denver Art Museum; Walker Art Center.
American Federation of Arts, 'Milton Avery: The Late Paintings,' Milwaulkee Museum of Art, November 30, 2001-January 27, 2002; Norton Museum of Art, February 15-April 15, 2002; UCLA Hammer Museum, LA, May 24, 2002 - September 8, 2002.
BMA, "American Modernism from the Collection," June 25, 2003-
Robert Hobbs, 'Milton Avery: The Late Paintings,' New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2001, plate 16, p. 38.
On View at the BMA
