La magia realista de los dibujos de E. Hooper

 

Josephine Hopper, la viuda E. Hooper (1882–1967), cedió al Whitney Museum of American Art unos 2500 dibujos del gran pintor americano. Muchos de ellos son trabajos preparatorios de algunos de los grandes óleos, como Nighthawks, 1942, New York Movie, 1939; otras veces, son estudios de pequeños motivos o de los interiores que tanto sedujeron a Hooper, lugares  emblemáticos del paisaje cerrado de la vida americana, la oficina, el dormitorio, la cafetería; también, aparecen las carreteras o las gasolineras, esas presencias que en manos del pintor se renuevan cada vez que las miras. Hasta el seis de octubre el museo neoyorkino dedica una exposición a esos estupendos dibujos que recorren el proceso creativo hooperiano  a partir a veces de motivos, como la toma de agua, que se convierten en pequeños emblemas seminales, escudos de familia de su estilo. Dejando a un lado el perfil cinematográfico y los concomitancias literarias que se han señalado en relación a su pintura, Hooper, en mi pensamiento, se asocia al escritor Eduardo Zuñiga. En los dos noto una voluntad realista enrarecida, que, a fuerza de cuidada elaboración, tiene querencia por un preciosismo nada relamido, sino ligado a las posibilidades de los objetos, de los ambientes, a su capacidad para cargarse se sentido, para dotarse de insospechadas profundidades. Luces doradas en las que la belleza está, a menudo, en la luz misma, silencios cargados de silencio…quizás a los dos se les podría aplicar aquel proverbio (árabe) que recordó J. Goytisolo cuando se quedó viudo, no calla quien quien calla, sino quien no calla.

(Fuente de las imágenes)

1.

Edward Hopper (1882–1967), Nighthawks, 1942. Oil on canvas, 33 1/8 × 60 in. (84.1 × 152.4 cm). The Art Institute of Chicago; Friends of American Art Collection 1942.51. Photography © The Art Institute of Chicago

Edward Hopper (1882–1967), Study for Nighthawks, 1941 or 1942. Fabricated chalk and charcoal on paper; 11 1/8 × 15 in. (28.3 × 38.1 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase and gift of Josephine N. Hopper by exchange  2011.65

Edward Hopper (1882–1967), Study for Nighthawks, 1941 or 1942. Fabricated chalk and charcoal on paper, 8 1/8 × 8 in. (20.6 × 20.3 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Josephine N. Hopper Bequest 70.253. © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Digital image © Whitney Museum of American Art

Edward Hopper (1882–1967), Study for Nighthawks, 1941 or 1942. Fabricated chalk on paper, 8 7/16 × 10 15/16 in (21.4 × 27.8 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Josephine N. Hopper Bequest 70.193. © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Digital image © Whitney Museum of American Art

 

Edward Hopper (1882–1967), Study for Nighthawks, 1941 or 1942. Fabricated chalk on paper, 8 1/2 × 11 1/16 in. (21.6 × 28.1 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Josephine N. Hopper Bequest 70.195. © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Digital image © Whitney Museum of American Art

Edward Hopper (1882–1967), Study for Nighthawks (recto), 1941 or 1942. Fabricated chalk on paper, 8 1/2 × 11 in. (21.6 × 27.9 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Josephine N. Hopper Bequest 70.194a–b. © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Digital image © Whitney Museum of American Art

2.

Edward Hopper (1882–1967), Study for New York Movie, 1938 or 1939. Fabricated chalk on paper, 11 1/8 × 15 in. (28.3 × 38.1 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Josephine N. Hopper Bequest 70.277. © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Digital image © Whitney Museum of American Art

Edward Hopper (1882–1967), Study for New York Movie, 1938 or 1939. Fabricated chalk on paper, 8 3/8 × 10 15/16 in. (21.3 × 27.8 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Josephine N. Hopper Bequest 70.100.© Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Digital image © Whitney Museum of American Art

Edward Hopper (1882–1967), Study for New York Movie, 1938 or 1939. Fabricated chalk on paper, 10 7/8 × 8 3/8 in (27.6 × 21.3 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Josephine N. Hopper Bequest 70.101. © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Digital image © Whitney Museum of American Art

Edward Hopper (1882–1967), Study for New York Movie, 1939. Fabricated chalk and charcoal on paper, 15 × 11 1/8 in. (38.1 × 28.3 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Josephine N. Hopper Bequest 70.455. © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Digital image © Whitney Museum of American Art

Edward Hopper (1882–1967), New York Movie, 1939. Oil on canvas, 32 1/4 × 40 1/8 in. (81.9 × 101.9 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York; given anonymously 396.1941. Digital Image © The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA / Art Resource, NY

 

Edward Hopper (1882–1967), Early Sunday Morning, 1930. Oil on canvas, 35 3/16 × 60 1/4 in. (89.4 × 153 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase with funds from Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney 31.426. © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Digital image © Whitney Museum of American Art

 

 

Edward Hopper (1882–1967), Soir Bleu, 1914. Oil on canvas, Overall: 36 × 72 in. (91.4 × 182.9 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Josephine N. Hopper Bequest 70.1208. Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins. © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Digital image © Whitney Museum of American Art

Edward Hopper (1882–1967), Couple Drinking, 1906–07. Transparent and opaque watercolor, graphite pencil, and fabricated chalk on paper, 13 1/2 × 19 7/8 in. (34.3 × 50.5 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Josephine N. Hopper Bequest 70.1340. © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Digital image © Whitney Museum of American Art

Edward Hopper (1882–1967), Study for Stairway, 1949. Fabricated chalk and graphite pencil on paper, 12 3/16 × 19 1/4 in. (31 × 48.9 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Josephine N. Hopper Bequest 70.849. © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Digital image © Whitney Museum of American Art

Edward Hopper (1882–1967), Study for East Side Interior (recto), 1922. Fabricated chalk and charcoal on paper, 9 × 11 1/2 in. (22.9 × 29.2 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Josephine N. Hopper Bequest 70.342a–b. © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Digital image © Whitney Museum of American Art

Edward Hopper (1882–1967), Study for Gas, 1940. Charcoal and white chalk with graphite pencil on paper, 15 1/16 × 22 1/8 in. (38.3 × 56.2 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Josephine N. Hopper Bequest 70.349. © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Digital image © Whitney Museum of American Art (fuente)