Cathy's Art Diary

Charming exhibition at Waddington Custot of work by March Avery, the daughter of Milton Avery whose show at Royal Academy I’d been to in the morning. She’s 90 this year and still painting six days a week. Her work is similar to her father in style but more gentle. Some of the latter work of children gets a bit sentimental but then you find the wonderful “Tall Pines II” with an Expressionist background. I love her paired down figures who seem comfortable in their own skins.   Closes 17 September 2022 Review Telegraph  

Colourful exhibition at the Royal Academy looking at the life and work of American artists, Milton Avery. Avery bridged the gap between Impressionism and Abstract Expressionism. I think of them as very different concepts so it was interesting to see it happen. He was a friend of Rothko, Gottlieb and Barnett Newman. The show began with soft Van Gogh like landscapes before he moved into thinner paint and becomes more blocky. I loved “Fox River Village” from 1938 with a swoop of a bay and sketched in houses. His portraits and domestic work again became blocky. My favourite work in the show was “Seated Girl With a Dog”” from 1944 show here. He regularly did a painting a day. Him and his wife were known as welcoming hosts and I did get a sense of friendship from the show. Almost Bloomsbury Group like! The later works were very blocked. Think Rothko but with a subject. Closes 16 October 2022 Reviews Times Guardian Telegraph