At first glance, it is just an old family photograph (Fig. 1). As it turns out, the informal snapshot, inscribed across the top margin, “Sally. Milton March. Vermont/ ’35,” is one of the few archival documents that connect the modern American painter Milton Avery (1885–1965) to Vermont. The photograph establishes a particular place and mood. A relaxed Avery is seated in the grass with his wife, Sally Michel Avery, an accomplished artist in her own right, and their two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, March—on what looks to be a perfect summer afternoon.