Milton Avery (1885-1965; USA)  

Set of Six Ceramic Plates
ca 1964

Stoneware with transfer decoration; dia. 10.75 in. 
Artist signed in decal and edition size 30 printed on reverse. 

Milton Avery was born in 1895 and studied at the Connecticut League of Art Students in Hartford under Charles Noel Flagg and at the Art Society School there under Albertus Jones. As the American upholder of Henri Matisse's coloristic doctrine, Avery developed the French artist's decorative surfaces into subtly toned color zones, thus breaking the ground for the Color Field painting of Mark Rothko and Adolph Gottlieb, both of whom were friends. Classical motifs and subject matter in portraits, still life and coastal landscapes were his main thematic areas and genres. A prolific painter, graphic artist and ceramist, Milton Avery received numerous awards from American art institutions before he died in 1965 but only became widely famous retrospectively, acclaimed as one of the most influential of American 20th-century painters. 

These plates were made in 1964 for a limited edition ceramics project for Art In America Magazine, curated and directed by Cleve Gray. Artists included in the project were David Smith, Helen Frankenthaler, Louise Nevelson, Ben Shahn and others. Almost none of the editions were completed beyond the first prototypes. The work was on exhibition at American Federation of Arts Gallery, New York from November 30 through December 11, 1964. Thereafter they were shown at museums across the US. Avery made six ceramic plates in a planned edition of 30, produced at the Delano Studio. This is the first and only full set of plates to have been found since the project was created.