Fall colors greet me in the morning
I am up early in the morning to fetch the newspaper ( Yes! I still read a newspaper! ). Across the street there is a blazing show of colors and I can't help but take a photo of it since it won't be long until the trees are bare. Today, we are also going down the road to the Big Apple to deliver some of my artwork that sold recently. This presents a nice opportunity to run over to the Whitney Museum and see a brand new exhibition that opened last week.
Sunset on the Hudson River
We are going down to the old "meat market" on the west side of Manhattan. This section of the city is undergoing a radical shift from groceries to artificial intelligence, but there is still a place for a fine collection of visual art at The Whitney. They have a spectacular space to view contemporary art and the place was packed, so buy your tickets early and online!
Edward Hopper's New York at The Whitney Museum
We went in to see the new show of Edward Hopper's paintings, prints and drawings that engage with this city and the people involved in their daily pursuits. Hopper was born in Nyack, New York on the Hudson but he spent most of his adult life in New York City ( with a place also on Cape Cod ). Along with the artists in my family, my early inspiration was Hopper and his style of realism which has a bit of theatre in it as you may observe in this exhibition.
I wasn't more than a teenager when I found his address in a telephone book and went down to Washington Square north and knocked on Hopper's door. The man who answered the door was not Hopper but rather a much younger painter who I later found out was actually Paul Resika. Paul later on became my teacher at Cooper Union, but that is a whole other story! I never did get to shake the hand of Edward Hopper and thank him for all his paintings and prints that I so treasured!
Hopper oil painting portrays a scene of city life
Seeing the Hopper painting of an office at night ( above ) reminds me that when I was living in New York City that you might see a scene like that through city windows after dark. In fact, I know that Edward Hopper often portrayed a realistic portrait of a New York City that he probably walked by every day. Such as the block of storefronts below, and the pharmacy which was still intact when I was a student at The Cooper Union.
Early Sunday Morning, oil on canvas, 1930
Realistic portrayals in oil by Edward Hopper at The Whitney Museum
The effect of seeing these paintings and many others in this new Whitney Museum show brought me back to ideas I had when I was first getting into painting and printmaking. Another thing that I found at this exhibition was a large factor in the development of Hopper's life work was that when he was younger he contributed illustrations to many magazine covers and in these formative years he really developed an ability to tell stories through painting. There also was a sustained interest in theatre and scenic development - and in fact Hopper created sets with the help of his wife who had been his model for many of the later paintings whose focus was on a lone figure sitting in the late afternoon sun.
Edward Hopper's New York at The Whitney Museum
Perhaps this show might act as a catalyst that can inspire a new generation of visual artists to take notice of their surroundings and document the city of today. I know that there are scenes which effect us if we are observant, and that they won't last forever, and maybe they can become the subject of your next drawing, painting, or print.
Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks"
Just as we were leaving we wondered why we had not seen the most famous painting Edward Hopper ever made...and we stopped to ask one of the guides. Our question was answered: The Chicago Museum which has the painting would not let it travel! So if you are looking forward to seeing this iconic work, you will have to get a ticket to Chi Town!
