'Avery, Gottlieb & Rothko: By the Sea' Review: Illuminating an Unlikely Kinship
At the Cape Ann Museum, the overlooked connection between the three artists, forged during their shared summers in Gloucester, Mass., is brought to light.
In the 1930s and '40s, three friends-all artists, one almost a generation older than the others-spent their summers here, sketching and painting the picturesque environs of America's oldest continuously operating seaport. They are known for very different styles: Milton Avery (1885-1965) for his colorful, flat, figurative scenes; Adolph Gottlieb (1903-1974) for his abstractions, especially those featuring a sun-like orb over a burst of color; Mark Rothko (1903-1970) for his color-block paintings evoking emotion, not image…
Image: Milton Avery, Harbor at Night, 1932
Oil on canvas
32 x 48 in
The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC. Acquired 1942, 0038
© 2026 The Milton Avery Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
