You might not know Milton Avery’s name off the top of your head, but once you see the legendary painter’s art, you’ll recognize his work. That’s because Avery, who lived from 1885 to 1965, was one of the creators of American abstract painting, using color relations with incredible subtlety throughout his 30-plus-year career. His inventive approach to landscape painting gave him the nickname “the American Matisse.” Unlike his contemporaries and predecessors, who’d been doing conventional Western paintings since the Renaissance, Avery’s work was representational and not concerned with creating any kind of illusion of depth.

The Altmar, New York native—who lived in New York City with his wife, the artist Sally Michel Avery, and his daughter, March Avery, also an artist—has had works appear at MoMA and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, inside the National Gallery of Art in D.C., and many more institutions. Now, his pieces are the subject of two major exhibitions that examine his artistic legacy. The first is Malta International Contemporary Arts Space’s Milton Avery and His Enduring Influence on Contemporary Painting, open in the European country until April 4, 2026. That show will feature work by contemporary painters next to the Avery pieces that informed their practices.

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