Milton Avery, The Artist’s Daughter in a Blue Gown, 1944

From the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston:

Milton Avery painted so many pictures of his daughter that in 1947 he was able to organize an entire exhibition entitled “My Daughter, March” around images of her. Fascinated with March from birth, Avery delighted in recording her growth and development and at the same time experimenting with his own style of painting. In “The Artist’s Daughter in a Blue Gown,” he used simplified and flattened forms, contrasting patterns, and soft colors to create a lyrical and serene image of twelve-year-old March. He employed the butt end of his brush to scratch lines in the thin wet paint that define the tiles on the floor and March’s hair, and drew her facial features, fingers, and toes with graphite (pencil). Fond of the image, Avery gave it to an artist friend.