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Winslow Homer and Edward Hopper at the Art Institute
21 April 2008 Send To a Friendby Alan Carter
The current show at the Art Institute in Chicago is a study in contrasts. Winslow Homer was of the Victorian era, active in the late 1800’s and early 1900s. Edward Hopper worked from the early 1900’s until the late 50’s.
The Homer half of the show focuses on his watercolors with a few oils added. The oils often were larger scale versions of watercolor studies. Most of the watercolors, particularly the later ones, were meant to be stand alone pieces, not merely sketches or preliminary drawings. The Hopper section is almost all oils, with a few early etchings and drawings. Each artist has been extensively written about and cataloged, so I couldn’t possibly add anything new. The pairing of the 2 in one show, however, brings out similarities as well as differences in their respective styles and approaches, and gives a more insightful appreciation of each. Homer comes across to me as a bit more introspective. He’s more at home outdoors (he was an avid sportsman and fisherman) and his interior paintings resonate somewhat differently, as if he’d rather be outdoors. The figures in is indoor scenes are mostly women and they are often posed looking outside, away from the viewer, much like the subjects in Rembrandt and other Dutch painters. There is often a little melancholy infusing the work. (Apparently he had some difficulties in the romantic arena of his life.) The landscapes are more aggressive; windblown seascapes, storms, etc. He shows a mighty respect for nature without being cowed by it. The figures in his landscapes have an almost stoic heroism about them. They have accepted their station in life with dignity and resolve. The boys lolling on the boats seem to be waiting for their inevitable future, somewhat oblivious to their present surroundings.
There is certainly nothing depressing in these scenes, indeed they are often uplifting and do give a glimpse into a less frantic era. Hopper views his world almost as a voyeur, an outsider. Even his earlier paintings of houses and lighthouses are rendered without inviting the viewer inside the work. Low angles and dark shadows across the lower portions of the canvas create a sort of hands off approach. Look but don’t coming knocking on the door. They are beautiful, of course, the incredible light bathing the sides of the buildings, the seeming pride of humble structures preening in the sunlight. His cityscapes, including his best known work, “Nighthawks” carry this voyeuristic detachment even further. Often the viewer is pointed towards an open window with a clear view of the interior, sometimes empty, sometimes occupied. The figures shown are unaware of the intrusion and are usually engaged in ordinary, mundane tasks, or may be doing nothing at all, sitting, looking out the window on the other side of the room.
As in Homer, there is an acceptance, in their expressions and bearing, of their lot in life, but it is often tinged with more melancholy and brooding. You can’t really tell what they’re thinking, their expressions purposely ambiguous. There is occasionally a sexual tension vibrating around the edges, and now and then it bubbles up and washes over the scene.
“Nighthawks” has always had this sexual undercurrent, in my view. The 2 figures, a man and a woman sitting at the counter, staring into middle space, observed by a third man across from them, all three oblivious to the counter worker, evoke any number of scenarios, not all purely innocent. It also has a somewhat staged, theatrical quality to it, a precept noted by the curators in the audio guide that accompanies the exhibit.
It’s a sign of a great artist that the same work will prompt many divergent viewpoints. Both Homer and Hopper created magnificent paintings that clearly have many layers of depth. Their use of figures is radically different, Homer being more pragmatic, Hopper emotionally elusive, but the results are deeply felt in both. They were technically brilliant, largely because the works look deceptively simple. As with all great artists, you are not aware of the craftsmanship and techniques involved, just the genius of the results. Seeing the 2 together increases your understanding and appreciation of each, and by extension a further insight into the power and beauty of all art.
Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S Michigan Ave, (312)443-3600
Exhibit is open until May 10
Alan Carter designs and creates custom furniture made from exotic hardwoods out of his studio in Lisle, IL.
