Before the exhibit, I knew of Hopper in abstract. I knew he wasn’t related to Dennis Hopper (who is also a painter), that he painted Night Hawks, and that he was an American. As I made my way through the first room of the exhibit, I was struck by the sheer loneliness, and existentialism of his paintings.
Many of his paintings are almost voyeuristic glimpses into a sparse urban setting. Several
paintings stood out to me, one was a painting of a light house and dilapidated house. The contrast of the two, the realism of the painting speaks volumes. Another painting that I stopped to study was one of a woman bending over. Looking at that painting, I felt I was staring at a Patt
y Griffin song. The loneliness of the painting was almost pungent. By the first or second room, I realized that he had to have been influenced by the noir cinema and perhaps vice versa. A few paintings looked like they were right out of Hitchcock’s Psycho and another painting looked oddly like the house in the film Giant. I stopped to watch the documentary narrated by Steve Martin and learned that yes, Hopper was influenced by film and vice-versa.
As I entered the last room of the exhibit, I noticed one of my favorite paintings in the Corcoran Collection. I also stopped to take in one of his last paintings. Although more abstract than the rest, its as haunting as his major works.
4 comments:
You've seen Giant. I am impressed, but not surprised.
Beautiful. My great uncle was a big Hopper fan. Not until I was an adult did I grasp the sense of isolation that can be felt in every work. So many of his works are painful to look at for this reason. To see the beauty just beyond reach. Tragedy.
Thanks for sharing these wonderful images.
i read an article in the smithsonian about him not too long ago. your blog made similar points and observations. it makes me wish i lived in your neck of the woods.
I went back and reread this post since I went with family to see the exhibit over the holidays.
I'm not really a fan. I do like "Nighthawks" and "Chop Suey", but nothing else moves me much. Don't get me wrong, I get the isolation and the "caught in midst of reflection" feelings of the paintings, but eh, whatever, haha. I'll always prefer old European stuff.
BTW, there is a great photography exhibit there right now; "Portraits: 1880-1980" or something like that. Very cool for anyone that 1) likes photography and its history and 2) people that like to see old photos of how people lived. Much more relatable for me.
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