Milton Avery at KARMA LA | 2026

The first full-scale survey devoted to Milton Avery’s figurative paintings opened this week at KARMA in LA. Helen Molesworth lead a talk before the opening in which she described him as a "profoundly East Coast painter," something I’d never considered much before but find to be completely true (the horizon lines!!)

I’m not as drawn to most of this work visually as I am his landscapes (or even other paintings of people) but I found this show incredibly informative about Avery, his practice, and his place in the cannon. Many of these paintings feel deeply rooted in the social and physical atmosphere of  the 30s and 40s, shaped by the Depression, wartime uncertainty, and the material constraints of everyday life in New York. The subjects, color, and Avery’s restrained use of paint feel of that moment. Some of the paintings immediately conjured Alice Neel for me, who was also painting in New York at the time.

A large portion of the work was made in the years following MoMA's 1929 opening, and it’s exciting to think about what Avery was encountering there (Matisse) and what he absorbed, what he translated into his own language, and who he, in turn, was influencing (Rothko, Adolf Gottlieb, Barnett Newman).

In addition to situating Avery within a specific time and place, this collection of work continues an ongoing dialogue in my mind about figuration and abstraction. These are paintings of people, but so much of their depth and intrigue is abstract, in the compositions, flattening of space, the looseness of narrative. The figures anchor the work and are more like a point of entry. Sometimes it's an abstract painting and people happen to be there.

Avery speaks in his own bold visual language, and in doing so gives enormous permission to painters who come after him. In conclusion, I love the guy and KARMA consistently has such good programming.