Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Dove, Marin, and Hopper

I decided to post about well-known artists that make me sit still and look. Three of them are American.

Arthur Dove: Sunrise, 1937

Arthur Dove: Untitled, 1942

How I found out about him is detailed in this earlier post.

Many years ago I saw Hopper's Nighthawks, and like the rest of the world, was stunned and fascinated by it. Since moving back into art I have educated that fascination and find his work mesmerizing.

Edward Hopper: New York Movie, 1939

Edward Hopper: Rooms by the Sea, 1951

And finally, John Marin--again revisited in depth where I discovered his landscapes as opposed to his bridgescapes and cityscapes.

John Marin, Big Wood Island, 1914

With the addition of Cezanne's landscapes and most all of the Canadian Group of Seven, these are images which swirl in whatever part of my brain works with visual things. As much as I still love Nighthawks, I think, as an artist, I am more fascinated by Hopper's Rooms by the Sea: the shape of the light outlined by the shadows is riveting, that shape made even more powerful by what seems a simulacrum on the wall of the next room.

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