MILTON AVERY
Icon of American painting
MICAS hosts rare European survey of Milton Avery, inspiration for Rothko and Gottlieb, together with works from contemporary American and European artists Henni Alftan, March Avery, Harold Ancart, Andrew Cranston, Gary Hume, Nicolas Party and Jonas Wood
The Malta International Contemporary Arts Space (MICAS) will once again play host to a rare, and unique showcase of modern and contemporary art in October 2025. Widely recognised as an important 20th American artist, Milton Avery’s (1885-1965) works are held in multitude of key institutional collections across America, but his first museum exhibition in Europe was only recently in 2022 at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.
MICAS will now host Colour, Form and Composition: Milton Avery and his Enduring Influence on Contemporary Painting, starting 25th October, in which over 30 works of Avery’s will hang alongside responses by contemporary artists who credit him as an influence: Henni Alftan, Milton’s daughter March Avery, Harold Ancart, Andrew Cranston, Gary Hume, Nicolas Party and Jonas Wood.
“This is a significant, one-of-a-kind exhibition for Malta – MICAS is the second only European institution to hold a Milton Avery retrospective together with the participation of a stellar case of contemporary artists, each with a conscious response to the Avery works to be shown,” said curator and MICAS Artistic Director Edith Devaney.
Avery has been widely credited to have influenced the younger protagonists of Abstract Expressionism, namely Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman and Adolph Gottlieb. “His early work came to play an influential role in that movement’s development. These three colour field artists expressed their deep admiration for, and debt to, Avery’s work and practice throughout their careers,” said Devaney.
“To an extent, he became the link between two significant 20th century national movements, American Impressionism and Abstract Expressionism – so this MICAS exhibition is exploring the extent to which Avery and his oeuvre continues to be held in high regard by some of the leading contemporary artists of our time.”
Devaney is working with Paris-based designer Cécile Degos in this thematic exhibition that places Avery’s paintings alongside new works created decades later – an unexpected visual dialogue that will shift Avery’s work beyond its historical frame.
MICAS executive chairperson Phyllis Muscat said the museum’s foundation year, starting with an exhibition by Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos, and showcases for Maltese artists Ray Pitrè, Caesar Attard, Vince Briffa, Austin Camilleri, Joyce Camilleri, Anton Grech, and Pierre Portelli, will be ending on a high with the Milton Avery exhibition.
“MICAS is a platform for the excellence of the island’s contemporary artists, as well as a destination for international contemporary art. This Avery exhibition is a high-water mark for our very young ambitions, hosting the work of an American master of colour and responses from seven painters,” Muscat said.
About the exhibition
This exhibition explores the artistic legacy of Milton Avery and how aspects of his work remain detectable in some of today’s most celebrated artists.
Effectively a survey of Avery’s entire career, it covers Avery’s mid-career subjects from the mid- to late 1940s, as well as his late work from the 1950s through to the early 1960s, demonstrating the continuing influence of European Modernism on his work, particularly Matisse; as well as the profound influence Avery had on the emerging colour field Abstract Expressionist painters, and what he took from them, with his works becoming less dependent on the figurative content.
“We intend to recontextualise not only Avery’s work, but that of all the contemporary participants, and in doing so, acknowledging the notion of art history not always linear,” said Edith Devaney.
The writer and art historian Dore Ashton commented during Avery’s lifetime that he was a ‘painters’ painter’ – this MICAS exhibition will explore the extent to which that characterisation of him remains true to this day, with the participating artists revealing their personal relationship with Avery’s work, each tapping into very differing aspects of his practice.
Each participating contemporary artist selected their works based on the Avery checklist. The lineup includes Henni Alftan (Finnish, b.1979), who will present a solo exhibition in New York City in 2025; March Avery (American, b.1932), daughter of March Avery and an accomplished painter; Harold Ancart (Belgian, b.1980), celebrated for his 2024 solo exhibition at Gagosian Gallery in Paris; Andrew Cranston (Scottish, b.1969), who recently exhibited at Karma Gallery in Los Angeles; Gary Hume (British, b.1962), a YBA and Royal Academician with a recent solo show at Sprüth Magers in London; Nicolas Party (Swiss, b.1980), who held a major solo exhibition at Hoam Museum of Art, South Korea in 2023 and exhibited at the Frick Collection, NYC the same year; and Jonas Wood (American, b.1977), who was featured in a solo exhibition at Gagosian, London in 2024.
