Portrait of the Artist’s Wife, 1945, oil on canvas, 30-1/8 x 25-3/8 in. Framed by Gill & Lagodich for the Myron Kunin Collection. Period c. 1920s-30s American Modernist frame, patinated silver and metal-gilded hand-carved wood, molding width 4-1/2 in.

The Avery portrait was one of a number of marvelous paintings G&L framed for Mr. Kunin. The gallery shot shown here is at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, who received more than 550 works on extended loan from the Kunin family in 2015. "Over a span of four decades, Myron Kunin assembled one of the most important private collections of American Modernism from the first half of the 20th century. It covers the diverse artistic styles and movements of the time, with innovative American modernists included alongside celebrated American realists. The strengths of the collection, and favorites of Mr. Kunin, are represented in these galleries: nudes, circus talent, social themes, land- and seascapes, abstraction, and portraits. That the story of American art can be told so thoroughly and so engagingly through this slice from a much larger collection is a credit to Mr. Kunin’s eye and to his irrepressible love of the chase after great art." —museum label, Minneapolis Institute of Art

Conservation in the Studio, 1943, oil on canvas, 42 x 36 inches. Framed by Gill & Lagodich for the Art Institute of Chicago, in a custom-made replica of a mid-20th century American Modernist painting frame; ebonized combed gesso on carved wood, molding width: 4-1/2” Painting bequest of Roy R. Neuberger, 2011.07 © 2018 Milton Avery Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York “Milton Avery was an American artist known for his study and usage of color, often referred to as a precursor to Color Field painters. His work frequently bridged the gap between realist and abstract art. The four figures in Conversation in the Studio have not been identified; however, meetings like these were a common occurrence in both Avery’s New York apartment and art studio. American artists such as Mark Rothko and Adolph Gottlieb among others would often stop by to see and discuss Avery’s work, while Avery in turn would sketch the gatherings and conversations taking place around him. The artist himself addressed this tendency, asking “why talk when you can paint?” The flat color fields and textured application of thin paint layers give shape and structure to the elegantly dressed figures and their surroundings. By the 1940s, Avery was increasingly using a nonnaturalistic palette to create mood in his paintings, as the bright-blue and green faces of the men demonstrate.” — AIC, permanent collection label.

Sally with Skull, 1946, oil on canvas, 33" x 26". Framed by Gill & Lagodich for the High Museum of Art, Atlanta. Custom-made replica American modernist frame, ebonized rough-sawn wood, geometric profile; molding width 3-1/2"

March and Sally Outdoors, 1950, oil on canvas, 30 x 40 inches. Gill & Lagodich custom-made American Modernist Sandelin-style frame; patinated 12k white gold gilded and combed wood, molding width: 4-1/4” Sotheby’s American Art Sale, 21 May 2014, est. $2,000,000-3,000,000. LOT SOLD $5,653,000. “Painted in 1950, Milton Avery’s radiant, March and Sally Outdoors, belongs to a remarkably innovative and productive period in the artist’s nearly 50-year career. Known as a particularly reserved personality, Avery preferred the company of his family and close friends. Because of his penchant for sketching the world around him, these people figure prominently in his prolific body of work. March and Sally Outdoors is one of the most sophisticated and intimate renderings Avery executed of his beloved wife and daughter, his two most important companions and muses (Fig. 1). He married fellow artist Sally Michel in 1926, an event described by scholars as, “the most decisive in Avery’s life and career” (Barbara Haskell, Milton Avery, New York, 1982, p. 26). Their only daughter, March, was born in 1932, and became a frequent source of inspiration for her father throughout her childhood and adolescence. While images of both women pervade Avery’s oeuvre, March and Sally Outdoors is an outstanding example of this iconic imagery, expressively capturing the close and unique bond the family shared.” —Sotheby’s catalogue notes excerpt.

Dancing Trees, 1953, oil on canvas, 32 x 48 inches. Gill & Lagodich custom-made replica of a c 1930s Modernist painting frame, silver leafed and polychrome gesso on wood, Artist Framing Co., New York, original frame maker., molding width: 3-7/8” “In the summer of 1953, Milton Avery and his family escaped the heat of New York City and spent the season at Brydcliffe, an artist’s colony near Woodstock, New York. In Dancing Trees, Avery depicts the dense blue-green forest, lemon yellow sky and pink ground as one flat plane whose layers dynamically convey a sense of the panoramic view. Though many of these works lack a specificity of place, even when based on a particular location, Avery’s “landscapes are not just any landscapes but have the bewitching quality of recalling to each observer a particular landscape” (Una Johnson, Milton Avery, Prints and Drawings, 1930-1964, 1966, p. 14).” —Sotheby’s catalogue notes excerpt.

Two Figures on Beach, 1950, oil on canvas, 30 x 40 inches. Auction estimate $1,200,000–1,800,00; Sotheby’s American Art New York, May 2019. Custom-made frame, American Modernist Sandelin-style, patinated 12k white gold gilded and combed wood finish, molding width: 4-1/4”