American Moderns in Watercolor: Edward Hopper and His Contemporaries

Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art

December 22, 2018 to March 17, 2019 

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The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, in Hartford, Conn., will present American Moderns in Watercolor: Edward Hopper and His Contemporaries December 22, 2018 to March 17, 2019.  

American Moderns in Watercolor brings together sixteen works of art from the 1920s and 1930s that depict urban and rural subjects. Edward Hopper and contemporaries such as Charles Burchfield, Stuart Davis, Preston Dickinson, Arthur Dove, John Marin, and Abraham Walkowitz were increasingly on the move, either by car or on foot, observing the changing American landscape. This exhibition explores how these modern artists uniquely embraced the portable medium of watercolor, experimenting with new subjects, styles, and techniques.

Stuart Davis, Gas Pumps ( 1935, Opaque watercolor, with pen and black ink, on illustration board, Gift of Henry E. Schnakenberg, 1952.388. © 2018 Estate of Stuart Davis / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY; 

From the solitude in Hopper's composed watercolors of coastal New England to the energetic forces of New York City painted by Marin, American Moderns in Watercolor shows how artists drew inspiration from their surroundings. "Bringing renewed interest and aspirations for the medium, these artists elevated watercolor to new levels," said Erin Monroe, Robert H. Schutz Jr., Associate Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture, "and contributed to the development of modern art in this country."

The Wadsworth Atheneum was at the forefront of collecting and exhibiting modern American watercolors, especially the work of Edward Hopper.

 Edward Hopper (United States, 1882-1967), Captain Strout's House, Portland Head, 1927, watercolor on paper, 14 x 20 inches. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund.)

 Edward Hopper Rockland Harbor, 1926, watercolor on paper, 13 7/8 x 20 inches. The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1928.324. 

 

 Edward Hopper Custom House, Portland, 1927, watercolor on paper, 14 x 20 inches. Gift of Robert W. Huntingon, 1946.232. 

 

 Edward Hopper Methodist Church, Provincetown, 1930, watercolor on paper, 25 x 19 3/4 inches. The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1951.19.

In 1928, the museum purchased the first of six watercolors by Hopper (four are included in the exhibition) and gave Hopper his first solo museum exhibition later that year.

 Edward Hopper, Marshall's House, 1932, Opaque and transparent watercolor over graphite on wove paper, Purchased through the gift of Henry and Walter Keney, 1933.93. © 2018 Heirs of Josephine Hopper / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY.

Another important early acquisition was Marshall's House, in 1933, depicting Hopper's neighbor's house on Cape Cod. A recent documentary, "Edward Hopper and Marshall's House," will be on view in the exhibition.


 

John Marin, From the Bridge, N.Y.C. (detail), 1933, Opaque and transparent watercolor with charcoal and collage on wove paper, The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1948.479. © 2018 Estate of John Marin / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

 John Marin (United States, 1870-1953), Big Wood Island, 1914, opaque and transparent watercolor over graphite drawing on ivory paper, 14 1/4 x 16 3/8 inches. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, The Schnakenberg Fund. 1951.275.)



The exhibition begins with sections on the Ashcan school, including works by John Sloan and William Glackens, and then traces the emergence of American modernism with works by John Marin, Georgia O'Keeffe, Stuart Davis, Arthur Dove, and Edward Hopper, where there is tremendous depth in the collection.

The Atheneum's collection also includes Social realism, represented by Reginald Marsh and Ben Shahn; Regionalism by Thomas Hart Benton and Jacob Lawrence.
This is the first of two presentations from the Wadsworth's outstanding collection of American works on paper.

The second exhibition will highlight Modernist still lifes by artists such as Charles Demuth, Arthur Dove, and Georgia O'Keeffe, and opens March 23, 2019.

The exhibition concludes with strong examples of postwar realism and abstraction as seen in works by Ellsworth Kelly and Andrew Wyeth.


Exhibition Checklist

All work from the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art unless otherwise noted.

 

 

 

Thomas Hart Benton (United States 1889-1975)

 

Oil Barge, circa 1940, graphite, pen & ink, sepia wash on tan wove paper, 13 3/4 x 16 1/2 inches. Gift of Esso Standard Oil Company, 1951.231.

 

 

Charles Burchfield (United States 1893-1967)

 

Looking through a Bridge, 1938, translucent and opaque watercolor on paper mounted to heavy board, 22 5/8 x 33 inches. The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1939.208. 

 

Spring Evening [Salem], 1917, translucent and opaque watercolor, graphite on paper, mounted to heavy board, 20 x 13 7/8 inches. The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1940.27. 

 

Song in the Rain, 1947, translucent and opaque watercolor on paper, mounted to heavy board, 40 3/8 x 28 1/4 inches. The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1957.16. 

 

November Landscape, 1946, translucent and opaque watercolor on paper, mounted to heavy board, 33 7/8 x 26 inches. Gift of Priscilla Cunningham, 1991.42. 

 

Nature's Mystic Spiral, 1916, opaque and transparent watercolor with graphite on cream wove paper, 11 1/4 x 8 1/4 inches. Bequest of Edward Gorey, 2001.13.32. 

 

Study of Bats in Flight, circa 1954­1963, black crayon on cream wove paper, 13 3/4 x 19 1/2 inches. Bequest of Edward Gorey, 2001.13.34.

 

 

 

Stuart Davis (United States 1894-1964)

 

Gas Pumps, 1935, gouache, graphite, pen & ink on illustration board, 16 5/6 x 15 inches. Gift of Henry E. Schnakenberg, 1952.388. 

 

Yellow Hand Truck, 1939, opaque watercolor, graphite on paper, 11 15/16 x 15 7/8 inches. Gift of Mrs. James Laughlin, 1981.61.

 

 

 

Charles Demuth (United States, 1883-1935)

 

Eight O'Clock (Evening), 1917, watercolor wash and graphite on cream, light weight laid paper, 8 x 10 3/8 inches. Gift of James L. Goodwin and Henry Sage Goodwin from the Estate of Philip L. Goodwin, 1951.261. 

 

Eight O'Clock ((Morning), 1917, watercolor wash over graphite drawing on cream colored wove paper, 7 7/8 x 10 3/16 inches. Gift of George J. Dyer, 1958.228.

 

Still Life with Eggplant and Summer Squash, circa 1927, opaque and transparent watercolor over graphite drawing on wove paper, 13 1/2 x 19 3/4 inches. The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1928.40. 

 

Jonquils, 1928, opaque and transparent watercolor over graphite drawing on tan paper, 17 5/8 x 11 3/4 inches. Gift of George J. Dyer, 1958.179.\

 

 

 

Preston Dickinson (United States, 1891-1930)

 

Still Life with Knife, 1924, oil and oil wash over graphite on cream, light weight wove paper, 8 1/2 x 11 inches. The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1959.228.

 

 

Preston Dickinson, Power Station – Night, 1924, Pastel and graphite heightened with opaque watercolor on laid paper. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT: Purchased through the gift of Henry and Walter Keney (1928.323).

 

Power Station - Night, 1924, unfixed pastel, graphite, and opaque watercolor highlights on cream laid paper, 25 x 18 1/2 inches. The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1928.323.

 

 

 

Arthur Dove (United States 1880-1946)

 

Flour Mill II, 1938, black ink and transparent watercolor on ivory wove watercolor paper, 9 x 7 inches. The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1955.264. 

 

Sunrise, 1937, opaque and transparent watercolor, pen and ink on ivory wove watercolor paper, 5 x 7 inches. The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1955.265. 

 

 

 

Guy Pene du Bois (United States 1884-1958)

 

Roosevelt!, 1938, transparent watercolor, pen & ink on cream paper, 14 11/16 x 11 15/16 inches. Gift of George J. Dyer, 1963.500.

 

 

 

William Glackens (United States, 1870-1938)

 

[East Side] or Far from the Fresh Air Farm (study), circa 1911, charcoal with blue and red crayon on light  brown wove paper, 24 1/4 x 16 1/2 inches. Gift of Henry E. Schnakenberg, 1954.121.

 

 

 

Arshile Gorky (United States, 1904-1948)

 

Untitled, 1943, graphite over colored crayon on ivory wove paper, 27 3/4 x 19 3/4 inches. The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1955.275.

 

 

 

Morris Graves (United States 1910-2001)

 

The Myth of Division and Separation, 1940, opaue and transparent watercolor, possibly sumi ink, on Chinese paper, 23 x 20 3/4 inches. Gift of Henry E. Schnakenberg, 1952.298.

 

 

 

George Overbury "Pop" Hart (United States, 1868-1933)

 

Street Fair: Fort Lee Special, 1930 or 31, translucent watercolor, crayon on paper, 18 x 35 1/2 inches. The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1947.401.

 

 

Rockwell Kent (United States 1882-1971)

 

Illustration for Moby Dick, chapter CXXXV, circa 1929, pen and ink on paper, 10 x 7 inches. Gift of E. Weyhe, 1955.398.   

 

Illustration for Moby Dick, circa 1929, pen and ink on paper, 10 x 7 inches. Gift of E. Weyhe, 1955.399.

 

 

 

Yasuo Kuniyoshi (United States, born Japan, 1889-1953)

 

Grapes in White Bowl, 1923, pen and ink, brush and ink, colored ink, and graphite on paper, 22 x 15 1/2 inches. Gift of William E. Hill, 1959.16.  

 

Wild Flowers, 1922, pen and ink, ink and wash on paper, 17 5/8 x 12 inches. Gift of William E. Hill, 1959.17.

 

 

 

Jacob Lawrence (United States, 1917­2000)

 

Rain, 1937, opaque watercolor heightened with graphite on paper, 28 x 20 3/4 inches. The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1990.30.

 

 

 

 

 

John Marin (United States, 1870-1953)

 

Downtown New York, 1913, graphite on heavy tracing paper with canvas texture, 10 x 8 1/4 inches. Purchased through the gift of Henry and Walter Keney, 1960.226.  

 

Big Wood Island, 1914, opaque and transparent watercolor over graphite drawing on ivory paper, 14 1/4 x 16 3/8 in ches. The Schnakenberg Fund. 1951.275. 

 

Movement No.3, Related to Downtown New York Series, 1926, opaque & transparent wc over charcoal drawing on ivory wove paper, 17 1/2 x 22 3/8 inches. Gift of James L. Goodwin and Henry Sage Goodwin from the Estate of Philip L. Goodwin, 1958.229. 

 

From the Bridge, N.Y.C., 1933, opaque and transparent wc and charcoal, collage pieces on ivory paper 21 7/8 x 26 3/4 inches. The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1948.479. 

 

Green Sea, Cape Split, Maine, 1941, opaque and transparent watercolor, graphite drawing on ivory paper, 15 1/2 x 22 1/2 inches. Bequest of Arthur P. Day, 1952.405.

 

 

 

Reginald Marsh (United States, 1898-1954)

 

New York, 1938, opaque and transparent watercolor over graphite drawing on ivory paper 19 1/2 x 13 1/2 inches. The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1939.209.

 

Woman Walking, 1944, watercolor wash over faint chalk drawing on ivory paper, 19 1/2 x 13 1/4 inches. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William Benton, 1961.158.

 

 

 

 

Georgia O'Keeffe (United States, 1887-1986)

 

Slightly Open Clam Shell, 1926, pastel on white ground on pressed artist's board, 18 1/2 x 13 inches. The Douglas Tracy Smith and Dorothy Potter Smith Fund, 2009.1.1.

 

 

 

 

Joseph Pennell (United States, 1866-1926)

 

Building New York, circa 1920, transparent and opaque watercolor heightened with black chalk on buff paper, 11 3/4 x 8 3/4 inches. Gift of Philip L. Goodwin, 1930.7.

 

 

 

Maurice Prendergast (United States, 1859-1924)

 

The Amusement Park, circa 1902, reworked in 1915, pastel over opaque and transparent watercolor over graphite, drawing on wove paper, 18 1/4 x 15 3/4 inches. Bequest of George A. Gay, 1941.172.

 

 

 

Ben Shahn (United States, 1898-1969)

 

Vacant Lot, 1939, watercolor on paper mounted to plywood, 19 x 23 inches. The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1941.390.

 

 

 

Charles Sheeler (United States, 1883-1965)

 

The Stove, 1931, black conte crayon on wove paper, 6 7/8 x 9 3/ 8 inches. The collection of Philip L. Goodwin through James L. Goodwin and Henry Sage Goodwin, 1958.232.

 

 

 

John Sloan (United States, 1871-1951)

 

 

Study for Hairdresser's Window, circa 1907, black crayon on cream wove paper, 6 3/4 x 5 1/8 inches. The Dorothy Clark Archibald and Thomas L. Archibald Fund, 1998.7.1. 

 

 

Abraham Walkowtiz (United States 1880-1965)

 

Future New York, 1912­-1914, graphite on wove paper with canvas texture, 10 3/8 x 6 inches. Gift of Abraham Walkowitz, 1949.246.