There is a portrait by Milton Avery in this bewitching survey with the title Husband and Wife. It shows a couple who have dropped by his apartment in Greenwich Village for the evening. Against subtle mauve walls, the man leans back in his armchair, face a brilliant orange as he raises his hand to make a point, clothes several close-toned browns. His wife is all cool blues and teals, arms folded as she retreats into a mustard-yellow couch.
The forms are flattened, the faces barely indicated except for a few marks scratched into the paint with the end of the brush. But somehow, everything from time and space to mood is palpable. The mauve speaks of shadow the browns indicate the corduroy and tweed that seem to go with the husband’s vigorous pontifications; the various blues indicate quietude to the point of withdrawal. Everything is spoken through colour.
