Middlebury College Museum of Art opens Edward Hopper in Vermont an exhibition of watercolors and drawings of Vermont subjects by the American painter, on view May 23—August 11, 2013.
In the more than 75 years since their creation, the majority of Hopper’s Vermont works have been shrouded in obscurity, and some have not been on view to the public in nearly fifty years. This exhibition, assembled from museums and private collections throughout the United States, reunites Hopper’s Vermont works and displays them together, in Vermont, for the first time. Arranged sequentially, without the interruptions of works painted elsewhere during the intervening years, these works illuminate Hopper’s process in translating into paint and paper his singular vision of the Vermont landscape.
Edward Hopper, often characterized as the quintessential New York artist, traveled away from the city every summer, leaving behind the heat and concrete sidewalks in favor of more pleasant climes and fresh subjects to paint outdoors. His first sojourns were to Paris, the obligatory destination for American artists through the early years of the 20th century. After 1910, however, he—along with his wife Jo (Josephine Verstille Nivison), a fellow artist who was also his model, muse, record-keeper, and lifelong traveling companion—traveled primarily in New England, with occasional trips to Mexico and the western United States. In all of his travels, Hopper was searching for “beautiful things” and new places that would inspire him to paint. It was this quest that led him to Vermont. Indeed, despite the beauty of some of their other regular vacation spots, including a small house and studio the couple built on Cape Cod, Hopper periodically sought inspiration in Vermont when he found himself unable to discover it elsewhere.
The Middlebury College Museum of Art, located in the Mahaney Center for the Arts on Rte. 30 on the southern edge of campus, is free and open to the public Tues. through Fri. from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sat. and Sun. from noon to 5 p.m. It is closed Mondays. The museum is physically accessible. Parking is available in the Mahaney Center for the Arts parking lot. For further information and to confirm dates and times of scheduled events, please call (802) 443–5007 or TTY (802) 443–3155, or visit the museum’s website at museum.middlebury.edu.