Giorgio de Chirico, The Mystery and Melancholy of a Street, 1914
“One must paint all the phenomena of the world as an enigma”
Comment
A simple shadow, a haunting sense of foreboding. De Chirico was a magician at this.
J.M.W. Turner, Snowstorm – Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth, 1842
“Light is therefore colour”
Comment
Hard to believe this painting is 170 years old (predating Impressionism by decades).
It’s a vortex of splash and chaos, the schooner captured only by a burst of light
in the distance.
Edward Hopper, Nighthawks, 1942
“Unconsciously, probably, I was painting the loneliness of a large city”
Comment
Despite its ubiquitousness in the American art landscape, I still love the movie-set-like isolation of this and other Hopper works.
Henri Matisse, Jazz series, 1947
“My curves are not crazy”
Comment
Perhaps not the “great” Matisse by standard definition, as Jazz represents his turn to mediums other than oil after disability by illness. But the collection is fun, fresh, and brilliantly colorful.
Mark Rothko, No. 61 Rust and Blue, 1953
“Silence is so accurate”
Comment
Ah, Rothko. Still hope to visit the Houston chapel where people go just to sit
and meditate amidst his paintings.
Next: 5 Paradigms: Fiction→
I love these paintings and your thoughts on them. The de Chirico brings to mind mysterious books I read as a child, the Turner is absolutely amazing – what incredible light! I’m familiar with the Hopper – like seeing an old friend – but the Matisse is new to me and what can I say about Rothko that hasn’t been said? This was nice to see at the end of a long day.
I visit the Hopper house in Nyack, New York every year. I love his work and when I visit his house looking down on the Hudson I can imagine him painting there. Great art all around.
Loved looking at the paintings, reading the artist quote, then your comments. Marvelous.