Autumn

Artist Sally Michel Avery (American, 1902-2003)

CultureAmerican

Date1956

MediumOil on board

Dimensions42 × 24 in. (106.7 × 61 cm)
Overall, Frame: 48 1/8 × 30 × 2 in. (122.2 × 76.2 × 5.1 cm)

Credit LineGift of the Macon and Joan Brock Collection of American Art

Object number2023.4.9

Not on view

DescriptionThis is an oil painting on board of an abstracted landscape. The colors of the purple sky, yellow ground, and green and blue trees are not as described in nature.
Label TextSally Michel American, 1902–2003 Autumn, 1956 Oil on board While often overshadowed by her famous painter husband, Milton Avery, Sally Michel’s unique approach to tonal abstraction earned her commercial recognition. In this landscape scene, the colors appear otherworldly with blue leaves against a purple sky. Porter’s forested photograph, also on view in this gallery, affirms that this spectacle of color can be found in nature and reinforces the atmospheric tonalism of Michel and Avery’s landscapes. Promised gift of the Macon and Joan Brock Collection ProvenanceMilton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation D. Wigmore Fine Art, Inc. The Macon and Joan Brock Collection of American Art, 2015 Exhibition HistorySally Michel: Rhythms of Light and Color, D. Wigmore Fine Art, New York, November 16, 2015–January 13, 2016. "A Shared Vision: The Macon and Joan Brock Collection of American Art," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, December 8, 2023 — March 10, 2024. Published ReferencesTom Wolf, Sally Michel: Rhythms of Light and Color (New York: D. Wigmore Fine Art, 2015), 25.