For Love of Art

[dave jenkins]

The exhibit shows how Hopper prepared paintings -- so next to each painting, they have his preparatory sketches, and/or photos of the street he painted, etc. I don't care about the preparatory stuff; all I care about is seeing the great paintings, and this exhibit will feature some of his most famous oils, including Nighthawks, New York Movie, Early Sunday Morning, and Office at Night.

Dude, the exhibition is titled "Hopper Drawing." The intent is clearly to put the emphasis on the sketches. Maybe the four paintings mentioned are the only ones displayed. Yer gonna pay 20 bucks to look at 4 paintings?

[drinkanddestroy]

A) i would certainly pay the $18 to see those 4 paintings;
B) there are other paintings in the museum to look at;
C) If you scroll down to the "Works from the Exhibition" section, they have 7 canvases there: Nighthawks, Early Sunday Morning, New York Movie, Office at Night, Morning in a City, Rooms for Tourists, and Soir Bleu.

I don't know if all the canvases in the exhibit are listed there or not  -- that "Works from the Exhibit" section shows drawings for some paintings but not the paintings themselves, such as Gas, Morning Sun, and Summertime. But even if the exhibit only had those 7 canvases, it would be well worth the $18 admission for a Hopper fan like myself.
How many opportunities does a New Yorker like myself get to see Nighthawks, which is owned by the Art Institute of Chicago? Office at Night, Rooms for Tourists, and Morning in a City are all owned by out-of-town museums. (And btw, Morning in a City has the greatest ass of any painting ever).

[drinkanddestroy]

RE: the Hopper exhibit at the Whitney: http://blog.ctnews.com/kantrowitz/2013/05/28/edward-hopper-at-the-whitney-in-depth-study-of-the-artist/

[drinkanddestroy]

The previously mentioned Hopper Drawing exhibit at Whitney is closing October 6th; I gotta get over there soon.



Also, MoMA has an exhibit, open until January 26th, 2014, called American Modern: Hopper to O'Keeffe http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/1344

The exhibit features over 100 "paintings, photographs, and sculptural works by American artists between 1915 and 1950.... almost all of it drawn from the museum's permanent collection," (according to this Huffington Post article http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-busch/moma-american-modern_b_3811240.html ,which is critical of the exhibit's curation [is that a word?])

Here are 119 works from the exhibit – though not all are necessarily on view at all times – http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3ATA%3AE%3AAmericanModern&page_number=3&template_id=6&sort_order=4&UC=
looks like there's a nice number of Hoppers, including House by the Railroad, which I'm very excited to see for the first time.

So, I'm definitely looking forward to checking out both exhibits  

[cigar joe]

I'd go If I was in the city 

[drinkanddestroy]

I'd go If I was in the city 

did you see the Hopper exhibit at the Whitney yet? I was gonna go last month, but then found out that the Whitney isn't open on Mondays or Tuesdays  http://whitney.org/Visit/Hours

So, I'll probably go at the end of next week

[cigar joe]

did you see the Hopper exhibit at the Whitney yet? I was gonna go last month, but then found out that the Whitney isn't open on Mondays or Tuesdays  http://whitney.org/Visit/Hours

So, I'll probably go at the end of next week

No haven't been to the city with any free time.

[drinkanddestroy]

I went to the Whitney Wednesday for the Hopper exhibit - one of the greatest days of my life!

The "Hopper Drawing" exhibit, on the 3rd Floor, featured hundreds of Hopper's preparatory sketches, pencil/pen/chalk/graphite drawings, etc., in addition to some of his most famous oil paintings, including Nighthawks (!!!), New York Movie, Gas, Office at Night, Manhattan Bridge Loop. I actually don't care much about the preparatory sketches and other drawings; I really only went for the paintings! I counted two dozen paintings at that "Hopper Drawing" exhibit.
Additionally, there is an "American Legends" exhibit on the 5th floor, which (along with the work of many other artists) includes 10 Hopper paintings; so between the two exhibits there are about 34 Hopper paintings, mostly oils.
I'll provide a full list of those paintings in the next post.


In comparing the paintings with the numerous reproductions I've seen in books and online, I'll mention a few things I noticed:

1) Nighthawks is actually a much brighter painting than how it looks in most reproductions; it's way too dark in most reproductions I have seen. (It seemed to me that quite a few of his paintings are brighter than they appear in books. Maybe it's just because I saw them with the museum lights shining on them?)

2) Of all Hopper's works, New York Movie may have the most inaccurate reproductions. The color of the reproductions I have seen vary so widely, and are generally way too dark; the painting is much lighter than most reproductions. For example, the seats in the theater are very clearly red, and you can clearly see a woman sitting on the right of the man, a few rows ahead of him. In many reproductions, you can barely even tell that the seats are red, and can barely see that woman.

3) In Gas, the sky is actually much bluer than I have seen in most reproductions. I'd say it appears as if it is painted shortly after sunset, a nice evening blue. In many paintings, the sky is way too dark blue, or even purple, as if it is almost night.

4) In Early Sunday Morning, the  street/sidewalk look like the normal color of pavement, which is gray. In many reproductions I've seen, the street/sidewalk are yellow, as if glowing from the sun.

Anyway, I had an incredible time (in case you couldn't tell  ). The exhibit closes on Sunday, October 6th; anyone in the New York area with any interest in art should definitely check it this weekend  

[drinkanddestroy]

I'll list here the 34 Hoppers paintings I saw. All are OIL ON CANVAS unless otherwise indicated.


Here are the 24 works that are part of the "Hopper Drawing" exhibit on the 3rd floor, (in addition to the hundreds of drawings).



A Woman in the Sun (1961)
Conference at Night (1949)
Early Sunday Morning
From Williamsburg Bridge
Gas
High Road (1931) (watercolor and graphite pencil on paper)
Le Pont Royal
Le Quai des Grands Augustins
Les Bistro or The Wine Shop
Man Seated on Bed (1905-1906) (oil on canvas mounted on board)
Manhattan Bridge Loop
Mass of Trees at Eastham (watercolor and graphite pencil on paper)
Morning in a City
New York Movie
Nighthawks
Office at Night
Rooms for Tourists
Route 6, Eastham
Road and Trees
Soir Bleu
Stairway (oil on wood)
Sun in an Empty Room
The Artist's Bedroom, Nyack (1905-1906) (oil on board)
The Lily Apartments (watercolor on paper)



And here are the 10 Hoppers that are part of the "American Legends" exhibit on the 5th floor


Second Story Sunlight
South Carolina Morning
Le Quai des Grands Augustins with Tree
Ecluse de la Monnaie
New York Interior
Italian Quarter, Gloucester
Burly Cobb's House, South Truro
Small Town Station
Self Portrait, 1925-1930
Railroad Crossing

[cigar joe]

Sounds great

[drinkanddestroy]

well you better get over there by Sunday. Coming into the city is a lot less travel than going to Chicago, where you'd normally have to go to see Nighthawks 

[dave jenkins]

In comparing the paintings with the numerous reproductions I've seen in books and online, I'll mention a few things I noticed:

1) Nighthawks is actually a much brighter painting than how it looks in most reproductions; it's way too dark in most reproductions I have seen. (It seemed to me that quite a few of his paintings are brighter than they appear in books. Maybe it's just because I saw them with the museum lights shining on them?)

2) Of all Hopper's works, New York Movie may have the most inaccurate reproductions. The color of the reproductions I have seen vary so widely, and are generally way too dark; the painting is much lighter than most reproductions. For example, the seats in the theater are very clearly red, and you can clearly see a woman sitting on the right of the man, a few rows ahead of him. In many reproductions, you can barely even tell that the seats are red, and can barely see that woman.

3) In Gas, the sky is actually much bluer than I have seen in most reproductions. I'd say it appears as if it is painted shortly after sunset, a nice evening blue. In many paintings, the sky is way too dark blue, or even purple, as if it is almost night.

4) In Early Sunday Morning, the  street/sidewalk look like the normal color of pavement, which is gray. In many reproductions I've seen, the street/sidewalk are yellow, as if glowing from the sun.

I hope they get the colors right for the Blu-ray.

[drinkanddestroy]

Edward Hopper's East Wind Over Weehawken (1934) sold at auction for $36 million; including extra fees and all that good stuff, the winning bidder paid over $40 million for it - a record price for a Hopper painting.

Here are some articles on the sale:

http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index.ssf/2013/12/1934_east_wind_over_weehawken.html

http://articles.philly.com/2013-12-07/news/44868960_1_hopper-painting-pafa-cello-player

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101249817


Personally, among Hopper's paintings, I don't think this one is anything special. If I sat down and ranked all the oils and watercolors Hopper painted during the last 45 years of his life (ie. the period when he made good stuff), East Wind Over Weehawken probably would be in the bottom half. Maybe even the bottom quarter.
But, since almost all Hoppers are now owned by museums, these days it's pretty rare to see any Hopper painting go on auction. (East Wind Over Weehawken actually was owned by a museum, The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, which sold the painting to establish a fund to acquire contemporary art).

[drinkanddestroy]

In addition to the record price paid for an Edward Hopper that I discussed in the previous post, at least three art-sale records were set during the past couple of months:

1) December 4, 2013: Record price for an American painting sold at auction: $46 million for Normal Rockwell's Saying Grace
AP: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/norman-rockwell-masterpieces-nyc-auction
CNBC: http://www.cnbc.com/id/101247932
UK Independent: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/norman-rockwells-saying-grace-tops-record-week-of-art-auction-sales-in-us-8991754.html

UPDATE: see next post RE: claim that this was most expensive American painting ever sold at auction

---------------------------------

2) Novermber 12, 2013: Record price for a piece of artwork made by a living artist: $58,405,000 for Jeff Koons's sculpture Balloon Dog (Orange)
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jeff-koons-balloon-dog-sculpture-655548

----------------------------------

3) November 12, 2013: Record price for any work of art ever sold at auction: $142.4 million for Francis Bacon's triptych Three Studies of Lucian Freud
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/13/arts/design/bacons-study-of-freud-sells-for-more-than-142-million.html?_r=0
(Previous record was the $119.9 mil paid for Edvard Munch's The Scream in May 2012)

[drinkanddestroy]

1) December 4, 2013: Record price for an American painting sold at auction: $46 million for Normal Rockwell's Saying Grace
AP: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/norman-rockwell-masterpieces-nyc-auction
CNBC: http://www.cnbc.com/id/101247932
UK Independent: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/norman-rockwells-saying-grace-tops-record-week-of-art-auction-sales-in-us-8991754.html

I'm not sure why those articles say that the $46 mil paid for the Rockwell's Saying Grace was the most ever paid at auction for an American artwork. Prior to that auction for the Rockwell painting, at least three works by Andy Warhol had sold at auction for more than that (besides for the private sale of Eight Elvises for $100 million in 2008). Per this NBC News article http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/14/21448642-andy-warhol-painting-fetches-record-105-million-at-ny-auction?lite

--- on December 13, 2013, Andy Warhol's Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster) sold at auction for $105.4 million
--- the previous Warhol auction record was $71.7 million in 2007 for Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I)
--- Warhol's Coca-Cola (3) sold at auction on Nov. 12, 2013 for $57.2 million

In case you did not read the AP article that I've quoted about the Rockwell paitning, I'll cut and past the two pertinent paragraphs here (they are the first and fourth paragraphs of the article):

A Norman Rockwell painting titled "Saying Grace" sold at an auction on Wednesday for $46 million, a record for the Saturday Evening Post illustrator and for any work sold at an American art auction, Sotheby's said.
...
The previous record for any work at an auction of American art was set in 1999, when George Bellows' painting "Polo Crowd" sold at Sotheby's for $27.7 million, the auction house said.


So how could the $46 mil for the Rockwell painting be the highest amount ever paid for any work sold at an American art auction if three paintings by Andy Warhol – who certainly was American – had previously been sold at auction for more money?