A glorious love poem to a great artist
Edward Hopper is possibly the most recognizable of American artists. His works, particularly Nighthawks, have been referenced not just in other paintings, but in song, photography, film, and all forms of popular culture. The man himself was rather enigmatic. Hopper: An American Love Story, looks at both the life, and the work.
Exhibition on Screen is a very successful cinematic series, seeking to bring major art exhibitions to a wide audience, via the screen. Most revolve around a particular (usually new) exhibition. Some, like Hopper, look more broadly at the works in a variety of galleries and museums. All the expected tropes of the bio-documentary are here: interviews with experts, and those who knew him; old photographs; acted voice-overs; panoramic shots of childhood towns, or favourite homes. But what director Phil Grabsky does that other film makers don’t do, is allow the works themselves to be the stars.
Grabsky’s camera lingers on details: does the door at the back of Nighthawks really not have a knob? What is that bowl of fruit doing in The Automat? He allows us to see the brush strokes, the texture of the canvas, the cracks in the older paint. And then he pulls out to give us the whole painting. In this way he emulates the way in which people mostly approach art physically.
Along with the work of Hopper, this film also looks at the work of Josephine Nivison, who had the questionable honour of being married to Edward. Nivison was an accomplished artist in her own right, but like many a female companion of the time, ended up sacrificing her work to be the business brains and helpmeet of her husband. She was the also the model for most of his female figures.
But despite the film’s title, this is not a documentary about a marriage. Although they were devoted to each other, this was no romantic relationship. The American love story here is really the love of American for Hopper and vice versa. Like few artists before him, he engaged in true creative dialogue with popular culture. He was a huge film buff, who used many cinematic images in his work. And films in turn have taken imagery from Hopper (eg Hitchcock’s choice of house for Norman and his mother in Psycho).
Fascinating, informative, surprising, visually rich, and always respectful of the art, Hopper: An American Love Story is a great addition to the Exhibition on Screen stable.
It opens this Thursday 20th at Wallis Mt Baker and Mitcham, Capri Goodwood, and Palace Nova Eastend.
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