Hopper - Dada issue by Stéphanie Vernet

P E P R O H

Couverture :

Directeur de publication Antoine Ullmann Rédaction en chef Christian Nobial, Antoine Ullmann. Ont collaboré à ce numéro Sandrine Andrews, Léa Bages, Raphaële Botte, Véronique Bouruet-Aubertot, Céline Delavaux, Alexandra Favre, Catherine Gimonnet, Isabelle Ihmle, Kiki, Max Manz, Olivier Morel, Alexia Renard, Éloi Rousseau, Aude Samama, Marion Tigréat.

ÉDITO

Tell me a story

Illustrations :

Aude Samama © Éditions Arola, 2010

Conception graphique Ariane Grenet Relecture Cécile Michel Comité pédagogique Association nationale des conseillers pédagogiques (ANCP) : commission arts plastiques, représentée par Isabelle Crenn, Michèle Guitton, Corinne Lacaze, Yves Legay, Élisabeth Levasseur, Édith Moigne, Patrick Picollier, Dominique Thouzery. Édition Éditions Arola SARL au capital de 20 000 € 15, rue du Louvre (boîte 91) - 75001 Paris T. : 09 65 18 62 47 - F. : 01 42 36 66 72 www.revuedada.fr Photogravure et Impression Chirat 744, route de Sainte Colombe 42540 Saint-Just-la-Pendue Imprimé en France. Diffusion-Distribution Vente au numéro en librairie : E.D.I. / SODIS. Abonnement 1 an / 9 n° : 55 € (France), 60 € (DOM-TOM, étranger) SOTIAF / DADA TSA 43202 - 35832 BETTON cedex T. : 02 99 55 13 51 - dada@sotiaf.fr Édition étrangère Pays-Bas : Plint, Dommelstraat 4, 5611 CK Eindhoven. Courrier des lecteurs Éditions Arola 15, rue du Louvre (boîte 91) - 75001 Paris T. : 09 65 18 62 47 - dada@revuedada.fr Mensuel sauf vacances scolaires, 9 numéros par an. Loi no 49-956 du 16 juillet 1949 sur les publications destinées à la jeunesse. « Comité de direction » : Antoine Ullmann, Christian Nobial, Sandrine Andrews. – Revue publiée avec le concours du Centre national du livre. – Numéro de commission paritaire : 0311 K 87549. – Dépôt légal : à parution. – ISSN : 1261-4858. © Éditions Arola, 2010.

A woman wearing a blue dress is standing alone in a window. What is she doing? She is holding a piece of paper and there is a telephone next to her – is she working? Why is the office almost empty? A man is walking alone down a deserted street at night. We are looking down at him from above. Is he going home or going out to meet someone? All Edward Hopper’s work is like this – a series of moments suspended in time. We are left wondering what just happened, or what is going to happen. This is what makes Hopper so intriguing. He paints everyday scenes, but manages to make them mysterious. How does he produce this atmosphere? He uses uncluttered landscapes, flat planes of colour, isolated figures gazing into the distance, disturbing angles, strong lighting and strange shadows.

These elements create a mood that sets Hopper apart from other artists. But is there really nothing happening in these paintings? We are not the only people asking this question. Many artists were influenced by Hopper: photographers whose work featured everyday landscapes or ordinary people lost in thought; directors whose films depicted ordinary yet eerie environments, who recognized Hopper’s skill for staging. Hopper’s paintings must be viewed repeatedly to understand what is really happening. Our illustrations are a start. You must imagine the rest.

N° 157

Edward Hopper, New York office (detail), 1962. Oil on canvas, 102,87 x 140 cm. Alabama, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, The Blount Collection.

Hopper

MR HOPPER, MYSTERY HOPPER

AMERICAN WORKSHOPS

6 A MODERN ARTIST LIKE NO OTHER by Céline Delavaux

36 MYSTERIOUS HOUSES by Isabelle Ihmle

8 THE PARIS CONNECTION by Sandrine Andrews

38 ACTION ! by Olivier Morel

12 A VISION OF AMERICA by Raphaële Botte

ART NEWS

18 ON LONELINESS by Catherine Gimonnet

WORLD MUSEUM TOUR : THE WHITNEY MUSEUM

24 AN ARTWORK TYPICAL OF HOPPER by Alexandra Favre

42 THE STORY OF THE WHITNEY MUSEUM by Marion Tigréat

26 HOPPER ON FILM by Sandrine Andrews

44 GAME – THE AMERICAN DREAM ? by Kiki

28 HOPPER THE TRAILBLAZER by Véronique Bouruet-Aubertot

46 EXHIBITIONS by Alexia Renard

32 ARTPHABET by Éloi Rousseau

48 BOOKS AND WEBSITES by Max Manz

opper, H r M Mystery Hopper

Mr. Hopper, Mystère Hopper

t s i t r a n r e d A mo

York studio, and the seaside. It is in those two environments that Hopper finds the subjects that made him famous.

R E H T O O N E LIK

Today, Hopper is considered one of the greatest American artists. This is an amazing feat for such a solitary painter, who ignored the upheavals of the modern art scene. Here is his story.

Did I hear abstract ?

A reluctant illustrator Edward Hopper was born in 1882 near New York city. At the early age of seven, he receives his first easel for Christmas. A few years later, he starts signing his drawings. He wants to become an artist. His parents don’t object but they persuade him to specialize in a more commercial sector: illustration. In 1900 he enters the New York School of Art where he gets simultaneously a classical training. For almost 20 years, he will work as an illustrator for publicity agencies and newspapers. Hopper does not like this job, but he makes a living from it, and improves his technique.

American school vs European influences During his studies, Hopper is very much influenced by his professor, the painter Robert Henri, who teaches his students how to represent the scenes of modern life. A theme at the heart of Hopper’s paintings … At the end of his training, he decides to travel across Europe. However, he is not at all interested in modern artists and their new ways of painting,

like Picasso and his Cubism! He prefers to discover the city and its museums (see pages 8-11). For instance, he admires the Realists like Courbet, and the light of the Dutch masters. By the way, you can see this work on light in this youthful self-portrait, very chiaroscuro …

Famous at 40 ! Back in the USA, Hopper exhibits very little and sells almost no painting. He makes a living thanks to his talents as an illustrator. Between 1915 and 1920, he also learns engraving and finally meets with success. What can you see in these engravings ? Solitary beings in the middle of the city, architectures and typical American landscapes: so many scenes you will find in his paintings … Paintings which are finally appealing in the 1920s ! Hopper finds a dealer, shows multiply; he’s selling more and more watercolors and oils on canvas. He marries painter Jo Nivison, who will be the model for all his female characters. They spend their time between their life in the city, in their New

From the 1940s onwards, abstract artists are more and more successful. Hopper chooses to ignore this revolution and to stay true to his realist style. However, critics today show that his work shares many elements with abstract painters: Hopper uses geometrical shapes and large flat tints, in particular in his settings (see page 23). Obviously, his painting remains realist like those of the previous centuries. Maybe it is thanks to this blending that it resembles no other, and that we find it so modern … Céline Delavaux

Edward Hopper, The boy and the moon, 1906-1907. Pen, brush and ink, watercolor on paper 55,4 x 37,6 cm. New York, Whitney Museum of American Art. Edward Hopper, Selfportrait, 1903-1906. Oil on canvas, 65,88 x 55,88 cm. New York, Whitney Museum of American Art. Edward Hopper, Night shadows, 1921. Etching on paper, 17,5 x 20,8 cm. New York, Whitney Museum of American Art.

Mr Hopper, Mystery Où estHopper Andy ?

Mr Hopper, Hopper Où est AndyMystery ?

The Paris

connection At the age of 23, Hopper crossed the Atlantic Ocean to discover Europe. He visited many cities but decided to settle in Paris. Back then, the city appealed to artists from around the world. What did Hopper bring back from Paris with him ? Paris, Paris, Paris At the beginning of the twentieth century, Paris was considered the place to be for artists. It was there that avant-garde artists invented new techniques that marked the course of twentiethcentury art. Hopper visited Paris three times: in 1906, 1909 and 1910. During his first stay, which lasted almost a year, he lived at 48 rue de Lille, near the Gare d’Orléans (today the Musée d’Orsay). To start with, his Parisian paintings featured the same style he used in New York – dark colours and realism. But the city fascinated him. In a letter to his family, he wrote: « Paris is a very graceful and beautiful city, almost too formal and sweet after the raw disorder of New York. Everything seems to have been planned with the purpose of forming a most harmonious whole which has certainly been done. » Gradually the city began to influence his work.

Picasso ? Never heard of him !

An unusual landscape artist

Many young artists travelled to Paris to join groups of innovative painters like the Fauves, who used bright, unusual colours, and the Cubists, who preferred geometrical forms. However, unlike other Americans such as the writer and art collector Gertrude Stein, Hopper did not spend time with emerging artists like Picasso and Matisse. « Whom did I meet ? Nobody. I’d heard of Gertrude Stein but I don’t recall having heard of Picasso at all. » Hopper was definitely unusual – everyone else came to Paris to work with pioneering artists. He did not !

What was Hopper doing in Paris ? He was not studying, nor did he exhibit any work. Instead, he visited museums, walked through the city and painted landscapes. When he completed Bridge in Paris, he chose a viewpoint that Fauvist painters such as Marquet or Matisse would have considered uninteresting. A tree intersects one of the bridge’s arches, and a red sign contrasts with the brown shades used elsewhere. What interested Hopper in this landscape ? Was it the dark semicircle under the bridge ? Did he already have a preference for mysterious everyday scenes and flat planes of colour ? Edward Hopper, Stairways at 48, rue de Lille à Paris, 1906. Oil on wood, 33,02 x 23,5 cm. New York, Whitney Museum of American Art. Edward Hopper, Bridge in Paris, 1906. Oil on wood, 23,34 x 33,02 cm. New York, Whitney Museum of American Art.

Mr Hopper, Mystery Hopper

Souvenirs from France

The difficult trip home

The diagonal line appears again in The Wine Shop. Here, it seems to separate two worlds : on the left, the world of Parisian workers and, on the right, an imaginary world where all details of the deserted city have been erased by the harsh light. The café theme was typical of Paris and featured in the work of painters such as Edgar Degas. Hopper loved these French artists from the previous generation. He borrowed Degas’ stark silhouettes and unusual perspectives, using low viewpoints that made the ground appear tilted. Hopper continued to be influenced by Degas years later when he painted an image of an almost nude woman in a bedroom. She seems unaware she is being watched (see page 27).

Hopper never returned to Paris after his third stay in 1910. He said that he needed ten years to get over his French experience. In 1914, he painted Soir Bleu, which could easily be Montmartre on a summer evening. On the café terrace are several archetypical characters, including a pimp wearing a cap and a woman wearing too much make up, directly inspired by Toulouse-Lautrec’s feminine figures. Even the sad clown in the centre, often considered a self-portrait of Hopper, is a recurring image in French painting. American critics did not like this image. They only saw an unsuccessful portrait of hardened absinthe drinkers. Hopper put the canvas away and did not exhibit it again. Instead, he began painting America as he saw it. Sandrine Andrews

Light ! Although Hopper was unaware of the avant-garde artists, he did discover the Impressionists and the way they painted light. In 1907, when Hopper had been living in the city for six months, the spring light led him to change his palette. « The light was different from anything I had known, » he said. «The shadows were luminous, more reflected light. Even under the bridges there was a certain luminosity. » This light features in Le Pont des Arts, a canvas structured around a diagonal line running along the riverbank, like Bridge in Paris. Le Pont des Arts is reminiscent of Albert Marquet, who used less intense colours than the other Fauves. Here, the colours are greyer, and the figures are portrayed using simple brushstrokes. Were the Parisian painters finally starting to influence Hopper ?

Edward Hopper, Le Pont des Arts, 1907. Oil on canvas, 59,53 x 73,03 cm. New York, Whitney Museum of American Art. Edward Hopper, The wine shop, 1909. Oil on canvas, 61 x 73,5 cm. New York, Whitney Museum of American Art. Edgar Degas, Naked woman, 1876-1877. Pastel, 18 x 14 cm. Paris, musée du Louvre. Edward Hopper, Soir Bleu, 1914. Oil on canvas, 91,4 x 182,9 cm. New York, Whitney Museum of American Art.

Mr Hopper, Mystery Hopper

A vision of

America

Hopper painted the countryside, the sea and the city. He saw a country that was changing and becoming more modern. What does his art tell us about America ?

Postcards Hopper’s images of the United States were like postcards, depicting lighthouses, large white houses, green grass, blue skies and windswept clouds. Lighthouse Hill is one of his most renowned paintings. It features a rural landscape on the North American coastline. Thanks to this picture, viewers are able to imagine the wide beaches and green cliffs without ever travelling there. With his art, Hopper conveyed his vision of America. Sometimes, the key to

this vision was just a detail, like a petrol pump. The beautiful, red, American petrol pumps in Gas Station are so captivating they could be straight out of a film set. You can almost hear the truck rumbling down the road, ready to refuel. Roads appear frequently in Hopper’s work. allés. Hopper est pour nous un passeur d’images de l’Amérique. Parfois, cela ne tient qu’à un détail comme celui d’une pompe à essence ! Celles de Hopper incarnent parfai-

Edward Hopper, Lighthouse Hill, 1927. Oil on canvas, 73,8 x 102,2 cm. Dallas, Museum of Art. Edward Hopper, Gas station, 1940. Oil on canvas, 66,7 x 102,2 cm. New York, MoMA.

Mr Hopper, Mystery Hopper

On the road Hopper was one of the only artists who painted the United States between 1930 and 1960, when the country was undergoing rapid modernisation. His images showed this transformation. He rarely painted untouched landscapes – humans had already left their mark. Cities were being connected as a result of new methods of communication and transport. Roads and railways crossed the countryside. Hopper saw these connections as the boundaries between nature and civilisation. They were signs of a new world, a theme that appeared early on in his work. In 1914, he painted Road in Maine, lined with electricity poles, the forerunners of modern society. Where does this road lead us ? To the city perhaps – another of Hopper’s favourite subjects.

Ghost cities ?

Edward Hopper, Road in Maine, 1914. Oil on canvas, 61,6 x 74,3 cm. New York, Whitney Museum of American Art. Edward Hopper, American village, 1912. Oil on canvas, 65,72 × 96,2 cm. New York, Whitney Museum of American Art.

Hopper liked to paint small American towns like this one in American Village with its main road, electricity poles and natural environment. However, he also liked to paint the big city, especially New York. He only left the city rarely for trips or short stays on the coast. New York was a place where people came and went, as seen in his images of hotels and people waiting, meeting and talking. New York was also unique because of its architecture. He often painted the city from a distance, and almost always from an external point of view – roofs, shop windows,

streets lined with buildings, glimpses of apartments through windows. He watched the city being built. This can be seen in paintings like Early Sunday Morning, where only a narrow stretch of pavement separates us from the buildings, which occupy most of the canvas. The sky is just a strip of blue. In Hopper’s work, the city seems deserted. Very few people appear. In large modern cities, people are often alone. représente souvent avec une certaine distance, et presque toujours de l’extérieur : les toits des bâtiments, les façades des boutiques, les rues bordées d’immeubles, les appartements aperçus par la fenêtre… Hopper observe les murs se dresser. Cela se ressent fortement sur une toile

Edward Hopper, Early sunday morning, 1930. Oil on canvas, 89,4 x 153 cm. New York, Whitney Museum of American Art.

Mr Hopper, Mystery Hopper

white middle-class citizens. He portrayed a vision of America that it was comforting to believe in, with its leisure activities, new means of transport and comfortable apartments. At the same time, he seemed to say that this vision was a fantasy, an ideal world that did not exist. How did he do this ? People do not look happy in his paintings. Often, they are not even speaking to each other. They are alone. Hopper is saying that the city is individualistic, a place where every man is for himself. In his city scenes, he reveals everything that modern society has destroyed.

The American way of life Hopper was a close observer of the United States. Details in his work reveal a lot about modern society. Pharmacy, for instance, shows an example of early advertising. The name of the shop, Silbers Pharmacy, only appears in the background, as the eye

Raphaële Botte is immediately drawn to the white lettering advertising a drug. By painting modern society, Hopper also showed the working conditions of the new services sector. He frequently depicted offices, but never factories. He portrayed people working at night. The city slept, but there was still work to be done, as in Office at Night. Hopper’s office scenes also showed social change. Women were now office workers, members of the white-collar workforce. These men and women represented the middle-class American way of life – freedom, progress, and happiness. It seems so perfect. But why is everything so still ? mais jamais de sorties d’usines ou d’ouvriers. Le rapport au travail change, les horaires sont parfois plus flexibles. Hopper n’hésite pas à montrer ces employés de nuit. La ville dort, mais eux finissent une tâche, comme dans Bureau, la nuit. Notez aussi la présence d’une femme. Les scènes de bureau de Hopper témoignent de ce changement de

Edward Hopper, Pharmacy, 1927. Oil on canvas, 73,7 x 101,6 cm. Boston, Museum of Fine Arts.

Edward Hopper, Office at night, 1940. Oil on canvas, 56,4 x 63,8 cm. Minneapolis, collection Walker Art Center.

Edward Hopper, In Second Story Sunlight, 1960. Oil on canvas, 101,92 x 127,48 cm. New York, Whitney Museum of American Art.

Edward Hopper, In South Carolina Morning, 1955. Oil on canvas, 77,63 x 102,24 cm. New York, Whitney Museum of American Art.

An imaginary America Hopper’s vision of American society is disturbing. His canvases are still, too still, so still they are almost sinister. In Second Story Sunlight, for example, life looks good. The older woman is reading, the younger woman is sunbathing. But the dark trees in the background are like a storm cloud. The women are not speaking to each other. The atmosphere is threatening, for no real reason. These contradictions are important : they remind us that Hopper was not taking photographs of America, even though he used a realistic style. He was not a sociologist. In Europe, he was perhaps too quickly catalogued as « a painter of America ». While his work does features scenes or images corresponding to a certain vision of the United States, reality is far more complex. Sometimes Hopper showed this reality clearly. In South Carolina Morning, he pictured an America that was not only white, but also black. However, most of the time his work featured

Mr Hopper, Mystery Hopper

Stolen moments

neliness

Look at Hotel Room. Do you feel like you are spying on the woman ? You could be watching her through a half-open door. People say that Hopper’s work is similar to photography ; it captures a fleeting moment in time. To create this effect, he used composition. In Hotel Room, the viewpoint is extremely important. In the foreground, Hopper frames the action by painting a grey wall on the left and a chest of drawers on the right. This draws attention to the woman sitting on the bed. Her bags are closed, her shoes are on the floor and her coat is thrown over a chair in the background. Hopper does not give us much information about her. Her face is shadowed. We cannot see whether she is sad or simply concentrating. The rest of the hotel room is impersonal, just flat planes of colour. Hopper paints a very personal scene without revealing any of the woman’s secrets.

What’s out there ?

Hopper used isolated figures, silent environments and empty landscapes to create strange and sinister scenes. How did he do this ? Why do we feel uncomfortable looking at his paintings ?

Hopper regularly painted solitary women. Eleven A.M. is one example. Once again, we feel like we are intruding. We see a naked young woman who is sitting in the sunlight. Unlike in the previous painting, there is opening to the outside world: the window. What is the woman looking at ? From where we are standing, we cannot tell. Hopper shows us the bedroom, but does not let us see what the woman is seeing. She is alone, but so are we when we look at this painting.

Nobody’s coming There is nothing strange about being alone in a bedroom. However, being alone in a public place is more surprising. This can be seen

Edward Hopper, In Hotel Room 1931. Oil on canvas, 152,4 x 165,7 cm. Madrid, Museo ThyssenBornemisza. Edward Hopper, Eleven A.M., 1926. Oil on canvas, 71,3 x 91,6 cm. Washington DC, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution.

in Automat. Automats were self-service restaurants. They were very popular at the time, attracting more than 10,000 people per day. The painting does not show the restaurant, but a young woman sitting alone at a table. The fact that the room should be full of customers only isolates the woman even more. In addition, she is sitting near the door, hunched over a table. She is wearing a short skirt and fashionable tights, but she has not taken off her coat or hat. She looks uncomfortable. With this painting, Hopper shows how difficult it is to fit into modern society. Sitting against a black backdrop, the young woman seems to have been left behind. The empty chair in front of her has been pushed into the table, suggesting that no one else is likely to sit down.

Mr. Hopper, Mystère Hopper

Outside looking in

Lost in the crowd

Take a good look at New York Office (see page 30). It is typical of Hopper’s work. The painting’s title indicates it is an office. It looks more like a shop window, with the woman as a mannequin. However, it really is an office, with a large picture window looking out onto the street. Hopper has emphasised the window by bathing it in light. The rest of the canvas is dark: the rear of the office and the other building on the left are just shadows. We face the window and the woman, as if we were standing across the street. We can see her perfectly, but we are not part of her world. We are separated from her by a wall of glass. Hopper shows us how two worlds can coexist but never interact, a common occurrence in big cities.

As you may have noticed, Hopper was fascinated by the absence of communication. Room in New York is an excellent example of this. There is a strong contrast between the warm colours and comfortable furnishings of this cosy apartment and the cold silence between husband and wife. He is reading the paper after getting home from work. She is picking out notes on the piano. They are not looking at each other or even talking, although neither of them seem to care much about their other activities. They are two strangers living together, as if they had met by chance in a crowd. Their faces are shadowed and almost invisible. They have become anonymous. In the big city, it is easy to get lost in the crowd and forget who you are.

Edward Hopper, Automat, 1927. Oil on canvas, 71,4 x 91,4 cm. Des Moines, Art Center, Permanent Collections. Edward Hopper, New York Office, 1962. Oil on canvas 102,87 x 140 cm. Alabama, Montgomery Museum of Fine Art, The Blount Collection. Edward Hopper, Room in New York, 1932. Oil on canvas, 74,4 x 93 x 3,2 cm. University of NebraskaLincoln, Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery.

Mr Hopper, Mystery Hopper

The deserted city

When the lights go down Hopper never actually painted crowds. He suggested their presence by picturing popular places typical of modern society. In New York Movie, half of the canvas shows the movie theatre and moviegoers. It is in darkness, and we can barely see the people. Hopper is more interested in the usherette, who smiles and helps people to their seats before the show starts. When she has done her job, she goes back to being herself. She no longer has to force herself to smile.

She is standing in an alcove to the side. She is separated from the public by empty chairs, a column and a thick wall. She is in the light, and the rest of the painting is in the dark. There is a mysterious air about her. Is she worried, tired or just thoughtful ? In any case, she is what attracts our attention, not the movie screen.

Chefs-d’œuvre ?

Hopper was obsessed with the loneliness of cities. He even painted them without people. In Approaching a City, he said he wanted to express « interest, curiosity, fear ». When you look at the painting, is that what you feel ? You wonder what is going to come out of the tunnel – a train perhaps. But nothing does come. There is just an empty, deserted landscape. With this image, Hopper makes us feel what it is like to be lost in a new city. He also shows us what he feels when faced with modern cities : emptiness and solitude. In Sun in an Empty Room, Hopper pictures a deserted room that is only penetrated by sunlight. He is not telling a story as such. Instead, he uses flat planes of colour to represent the empty space: beige for the walls, yellow for sunlit areas and dark green for the trees. However, there is an opening onto the outside world. The window leads our gaze elsewhere, to a place we might feel less alone in. Catherine Gimonnet

Edward Hopper, Sketch for New York Movie, 1939. Pen and charcoal on paper, 37,9 × 28,3 cm. New York, Whitney Museum of American Art. Edward Hopper, New York Movie, 1939. Oil on canvas, 81,9 x 101,9 cm. New York, MoMA.

Edward Hopper, Appraaching a city, 1946. Oil on canvas, 68,9 x 91,4 cm. Washington, DC, The Phillips Collection. Edward Hopper, Sun in an empty room, 1963. Oil on canvas, 73 x 100,3 cm. Private collection.

An artwork

typical of Hopper Hopper was proud of Nighthawks, which he considered « one of the very best things I have painted.» It later became his most famous painting. Why is it symbolic of his work ? Let’s take a closer look.

Edward Hopper, sketches for Nighthawks, 1942. Pen on paper, 21,6 x 28,1 cm (1), 38,3 x 28,1 cm (2), 21,4 x 27,8 cm (3). New York, Whitney Museum of American Art. Edward Hopper, Nighthawks, 1942. Oil on canvas, 84,1 x 152,4 cm. Chicago, The Art Institute.

Silence ! And… action !

Floating

The scene takes place at night. The streets are deserted. Inside a diner, four silent figures appear to be waiting for something (see pages 38-9). One of Hopper’s sources of inspiration for this painting was Ernest Hemingway’s short story The Killers (see page 42), which is about a pair of gangsters. With Nighthawks, Hopper sought to create an atmosphere. It could be the opening scene of a film – we can only guess at what comes next. This is typical of Hopper’s work. The restaurant is rectangular and framed by two horizontal black bands, just like a movie screen.

While Hopper has painted a scene that is frozen in time, he creates the impression of movement by using the lines of surrounding buildings. The horizontal form of the canvas is reflected in the long rectangular diner. The vertical shapes of the people and coffee machines make them stand out from the canvas. Hopper often used this technique to emphasize one or several elements. He also used realistic perspectives to make the scene appear true to life. However, if you look closely, light from the diner spills from its frame, making the restaurant appear to float in the air.

Frozen in time

A mystery

Hopper also said that this painting was inspired by a New York restaurant. However, the deserted street looks more like a cardboard set. This is because of the way Hopper painted. His canvases were smooth and flawless. If you look at Nighthawks with an X-ray machine, there are no corrections under the thin layer of paint. Flat planes of colour are characteristic of his work. Other typical features include the cool colours, strong lighting and greenish overtones, which make faces look pale. The only bright spot is the woman’s red dress.

Lost in thought, the figures seem to be trapped in a building with no way out. They are completely isolated, surrounded by darkness. It is very quiet. The glass window is so transparent we wonder if it really exists. There is something odd about the people. Take a look at the couple, for instance. They are not speaking or even looking at each other, but their hands are almost touching. What is the woman holding in her hand? Some money ? The bill ? The waiter’s mouth is half open, as if he was about to speak. The last man has his back to us. He is a little threatening, with his hat jammed down over his eyes. Even the empty glass on the counter is unsettling. Who just left and why ? As always, Hopper creates a mystery that he leave us to solve Alexandra Favre

Chefs-d’œuvre ?

r e p p Ho on film

Robert Siodmak, The killers, 1946. Edward Hopper, House by the Railroad, 1925. Oil on canvas, 61 x 73,7 cm. New York, MoMA. Alfred Hitchcock, Psycho, 1960. David Lynch, Blue Velvet, 1986.

When Hopper was not painting, he spent a lot of time watching films. His paintings show his skill for setting scenes and developing plots. His work went on to inspire many filmmakers.

A bar for killers Hopper’s painting Nighthawks (see pages 38-9) was inspired by a short story called The Killers. In 1946, film director Robert Siodmak made this short story into a film. At the beginning of the film, two gangsters are walking through the night. The scene is very similar to Nighthawks. A diner takes up the right side of the screen. On the left, a road leads from the foreground to the background. The two men walk into the diner and sit in the same place as Hopper’s characters – at the end of the bar on the left. Siodmak recreates the painting’s strange atmosphere. Throughout the film, he uses strong lighting to show the gangsters’ sordid world. Hopper, meanwhile, used the colour green to create a gloomy environment and suggest that something suspicious was going on.

Outside looking in Hopper’s House by the Railroad is an interesting image. Despite the bright daylight, there are shadows everywhere. Most of the house’s windows are shuttered. There is no visible front door. This scene was a source of inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock when he filmed Psycho. In the film, Hitchcock tells the story of Norman Bates, a psycho killer who lives with his mother in an old, run-down house. For most of the film, the house is shot from a low angle, as in Hopper’s painting. Rear Window is another example of the way in which Hopper inspired Hitchcock. In this film, Jeff, who is a journalist, is stuck in a wheelchair. He spends his time spying on his neighbours. He watches their lives play out through the window, a viewpoint also favoured by Hopper. Many of his paintings are framed like moments seen from the outside looking in.

A quiet neighbourhood American director David Lynch once said he had spent hours looking at Hopper’s paintings, trying to understand what was happening or what was about to happen. Hopper’s images are often like freeze frames. What similarities are there between Lynch’s films and Hopper’s work ? Both use stereotypical images of

the United States. The film Blue Velvet, for instance, begins with a series of Hopper-like shots that portray the peaceful atmosphere of a small American town. The scene features flowerbeds, a slow-moving fire truck, a fireman waving, children crossing the street and a man watering his garden. Soon, however, this serene vision gives way to a much more sinister reality. Sandrine Andrews

Mr Hopper, Mystery Hopper

d n a , r e p p o H

after ?

Rare are the artists who can claim to be Hopper’s heirs and yet, you can find many similarities. Watchful of everydaylife America, Hopper leads the way for many artists and photographers. An American painter, Edward Hopper is first and foremost one who paints America. Indeed, one of his characteristics is to look around him. Simple ? Maybe, but not so easy in a time when choosing so unremarkable scenes such as a cafeteria, a building front or someone awakening was almost revolutionary. In the early 20th century, artists are not very much interested in such subjects. Except for photographers ! More and more often, they walk about the streets, their camera over the shoulder, interested in the daily little things.

Another America … In the 1930s, Walker Evans takes pictures of wooden houses in the American countryside, houses nobody looks at anymore, or of anonymous, tired passengers aboard the subway, tossed around by the

train. In this set of pictures, he makes a funny experiment. He takes pictures of travellers by hiding his camera under his coat, and he succeeds in getting unnoticed! Walker Evans likes those stolen portraits, because they seem more natural to him: it is the empty look of those men and women, lost in their thoughts, that interests him above all. Characters who look a lot like Hopper’s, who look away or into themselves, like this lady in a café (see page 20). Those natural faces of ordinary people, secretly caught unaware, without the mask of a smile: isn’t that true America ?

… day by day If the work of a painter demands far longer time of execution than the simple click of a photographer, both are filled with the same desire: to seize an instant. In line with Hopper, they are not interested in the spectacular. The pictures of houses taken by Stephen Shore remind us of the buildings painted by Hopper. Take a look at this one, and compare it with the painting Early Sunday Morning (see page 15) : identical framing with a line of buildings, a piece of sidewalk, a thin band of blue sky; and even an impression of emptiness and loneliness, all captured at the right time.

Walker Evans, The passenger in New York subway, 21 janvier 1941. Photography. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Stephen Shore, Wolf Street, Philadelphia 10/28/75, 1975-2003. Photography, 50,8 x 61 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Gallery 303, New York.

Mr Hopper, Mystery Hopper

Mr Hopper, Mystery Hopper William Eggleston, Untitled, (Man sitting in bed in hostel room, Huntsville, Alabama), 1970. Photography, 46.4 × 32.4 cm. Eggleston Artistic Trust, courtesy Cheim and Read, New York.

Single men Weird how this picture by William Egglestone reminds us of the naked characters, sitting on the edge of their bed, that Hopper liked to paint. Here, the man is sitting dressed, and seemingly discouraged, afflicted. You imagine a solitary and tired salesman in his hotel room. The atmosphere is even more oppressive than in Hopper’s paintings (see page 19). Egglestone, an American photographer, chooses from the 1970S onwards to observe America « on the narrow side of things ». Just like Hopper, he chooses un-spectacular subjects: very little things which, under his lens, may say more about America than shocking momentous events …

Edward Ruscha, Standard Station, 1966. Screen printing, 49,5 x 93,8 cm. New York, MoMA. George Segal, Woman sitting on bed, 1993. Plaster, wood, acrylic, various materials, 244 x 363 x 217 cm. Montréal, Musée des beaux-arts.

A heirless artist ?

America’s essence

Walker Evans, Stephen Shore or William Egglestone have never mentioned Edward Hopper’s painting as one of their sources for inspiration. Yet the commons elements between their works is obvious ! In fact, few artists openly use Hopper’s name, even if many follow in his footsteps. Would his influence be more unconscious then? This is probably the mark of a great artist: his paintings are so famous that they unknowingly inhabit the imagination of each and everyone! You then find Hopper’s track in works that, on the outside, do not look very much like one of his.

When characters step out of the frame In the 1960s, George Segal makes life-size sculpture. Full-size characters busy with everyday-life activities : they walk on the street, are seated on a bench, run their errands … The only strange element is that they are entirely white! These mundane situations thus become intriguing. In this work, for once, black has invaded the room in which this naked woman sits on the edge of

her bed. Inevitably, you think of Hopper, even if the atmosphere is more desperate in here. Is it because this woman is staring at a black window, which seems blocked ? Segal is dead and you cannot ask him anymore if he thought of Hopper’s paintings when he made this work … However, he inevitably knew the work of the painter. And this one, buried deep in his memory, probably inhabited him like a sort of second nature.

By taking an interest in middle class America, Hopper is unknowingly going to sanctify certain common places. The gas station for example: in a country where you must eat up thousands and thousands of kilometers to get across it, the gas-station is almost a symbol, an emblem. It is an essential stop to gas up, and regain strength. A funny place where you are only passing by, where you remain anonymous even if you make encounters, good ones or bad ones. In 1966 when American artist Edward Ruscha decided de represent gas stations, did he have in mind Hopper’s paintings? It is impossible to check. But you find here the same fascination for geometrical shapes and those colors that create a place that is both fascinating and disturbing. Ah the joys of Hopper ! Véronique Bouruet-Aubertot

Artalphabet Où est Andy ?

Où est Andy ?

Alphabet American Art At the end of the 1920s, the public saw Hopper as one of the first real American artists. Critics distinguished him from earlier painters, such as Whistler or Sargent, who were considered too European. However, this vision is an oversimplification : Hopper himself always refused to paint « American scenes » or « picturesque » landscapes.

Buildings Buildings are often the real stars in Hopper’s paintings. Hopper loved architecture. He spent his life painting buildings in New York and wooden houses in the countryside. The way he depicted them changed over time. He alternated between surrealist and sinister scenes, and abstract images with flat planes of colour.

Cape Ann Between 1920 and 1928, Hopper and his wife spent their summers in Cape Ann, Gloucester Harbour, north of Boston. There, Hopper worked with oils and watercolours. These paintings helped him gain recognition. In 1933, Hopper bought a house at Truro, Cape Cod, where he built a studio.

Degas The Impressionists, and Edgar Degas (1834-1917) especially, were a major source of influence for Hopper. Hopper revisited some of Degas’ preferred themes, such as interiors, female nudes, city landscapes and cafés at night.

Etching Hopper began etching (engraving brass) around 1915. With this technique, he learned how to master the portrayal of light and shadows in black and white. Etching was also an easy way of reproducing his work at a time when he was not well known.

Greenwich Village In 1908 Hopper settled permanently in New York. He had a workshop downtown in Greenwich Village. This was one of the only neighbourhoods to have escaped major transformations. Nevertheless, evidence that the city was changing was everywhere – in elevated railways, modern buildings and more. These all inspired his city landscapes.

Henri

Hopper began studying at the New York School of Art in 1900. He worked under Robert Henri (1865-1929), a realist painter who had a major influence on Hopper’s art. It was here that he met many of his artist friends, including Guy Pène du Bois, Rockwell Kent and George Bellows.

Imaginary vision

Hopper’s work changed the way people saw the United States. His landscapes and characters even helped contribute to an imaginary vision of the country. Unsurprisingly, many artists later used this vision in their work (see pages 45-9).

Hopper met Josephine Nivison in Gloucester in the summer of 1923. He married her the following year. She was also an artist, and her husband’s only female model. She died ten months after Hopper in 1968. She bequeathed over 3,000 of Hopper’s artworks to the Whitney Museum.

Life

Hopper was inspired by everyday life. He liked walking through the city or country looking for everyday scenes typical of daily life. In this way, Hopper continued in the footsteps of his author friend John Dos Passos and his mentor John

Sloan, who sought to paint images he could see from his window.de la voie ferrée.

Moma

The New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) was one of the world’s first modern art museums. It opened in November 1929. It was one of the first institutions to exhibit Hopper’s work, and it owns House by the Railroad. It also held the first major retrospective of his work in 1933.

Nighthawks

Painted in 1941, Nighthawks is Hopper’s most famous painting. It features an everyday scene: three customers and a waiter in a diner at night. However, Hopper manages to create a strange and eerie atmosphere. The canvas is like an unfinished story, stimulating the viewer’s imagination. It reveals the artist’s different sources of inspiration, which ranged from Manet to thrillers.

Ogunquit

Ogunquit is a small harbour to the north of Boston. Hopper painted here in the summer of 1914, like many other artists. However, unlike these artists, Hopper not only painted the coastline, but also inland, where the roads were much more uninteresting.

Paris

Between 1906 and 1910, Hopper visited Europe several times, and Paris in particular. He painted many canvases depicting his travels, during which he discovered European art (see pages 12-5). Although Hopper never returned to Europe after 1910, he read and wrote in French for the rest of his life.

Realism

Are Hopper’s paintings realist? It would be difficult to say no. However, as Hopper once said, “My aim in painting has always been the most exact transcription possible of my most intimate impressions of nature.” In other words, Hopper did not seek to portray reality as it was, but as he perceived it. Perhaps this is why his paintings always convey strange impressions.

Solitary

Hopper was like the people he painted: solitary. At the time, he was an outsider to the art world. He refused to become part of a group or get involved in the artistic upheavals that marked his era.

Tradition

When museums like MoMA began purchasing Hopper’s work, critics began debating whether Hopper was a modern

artist or not. For most critics, modernity was about abstraction, whereas Hopper was a realist, which they considered outdated.

Voyeurism

SHopper’s paintings are often like stolen moments in the lives of anonymous people. Viewers feel as if they are trespassing on these men and women’s privacy. They are voyeurs. Hopper manages to involve the viewer directly in his paintings, and this is what makes his work so powerful.

Walker Evans

Hopper was always interested in photography. He took his first steps in photography with Eugène Atget, in Paris. Similarly, many photographers, including Walker Evans (1903-1975), were marked by Hopper’s paintings. This can be seen in the way they depict the United States.

Yachting

At the request of art dealer Frank Rehn, Hopper painted many marine-inspired watercolours. These images were very popular, especially with the middle-class Americans who visited Cape Cod and enjoyed sailing. Hopper also liked to sail. When he was young, he built his very own sailing boat. Éloi Rousseau

33 33

a n c i r e Am s p o h s work

American workshops

s u o i r e t s My

American workshops

houses

What you need :

Hopper painted a lot of houses, in the city and the countryside. There often seemed to be something strange about them. How did he create this impression ? Hopper had a house with a studio near the ocean. He liked to spend summer there with his wife Jo. The houses Hopper painted were usually built in painted wood. He painted them as isolated structures, in deserted landscapes. Sometimes, he added one or two people, looking into the distance. It is your turn to try and recreate the eerie atmosphere surrounding the country houses that featured in Hopper’s work.

1. Choose a photo of a house you like, or use the house pictured here. At least two sides of the house must be visible. 2. Start by drawing the outlines of the house. Use the entire piece of paper. Only draw the house – do not include other details like trees, roads or cars. 3. Add a woman standing on the balcony or standing in the doorway 4. Paint the walls of the house. Use white for the side in the sun, and a mix of blue and grey for the wall in the shadows. 5. Add other details to the house like the shutters and the roof. Paint the inside of

• an HB pencil • tubes of paint • brushes • a glass of water • a cardboard plate to mix colours one • a thick sheet of A3 paper (180g/m2)

the house grey, so you cannot see what is happening. 6. After the rest of the painting has dried, paint the woman using whatever colours you like. Paint the ground and sky using flat planes of colour. Do not include any details. Paint the ground tan (to represent sand or fields), and the sky blue. Congratulations ! By painting a house with no surroundings, no details, strong lighting and only one person in it, you have created a strange and mysterious environment, just like Hopper. Isabelle Ihmle, dessins de Corinne Rod

Ateliers américains

And... action !

What you need : • bristol board • sheets of coloured paper • cellophane • glue and sticky tape • a craft knife • magazines • a lamp

In Hopper’s paintings, it always looks like something is about to happen. Characters in Hopper’s paintings include men and women trapped inside diners and people glimpsed through windows. They could be actors in a tragedy, while we watch unseen from the audience. Like a director, Hopper plays with space, both inside and outside, creating mysterious stories. To understand how he works, you are going to make a threedimensional artwork, a diorama.

1. Identify a building in your town or city with at least two floors and a café on the ground floor. Do a simple drawing of this building. 2. Using the Bristol board, cut out the front wall of the building. It must be around 30cm high. Cut out the side wall, which should be narrower. 3. Use the coloured cardboard to make all the building’s architectural details: window-frames, the café window, the café’s sign, etc. Use the cellophane as glass. 4. 4. Cut out figures from the magazines. They should be about 6cm high. These are your characters. Put them in the café or behind the apartment windows. Join both walls of the building

using a paper hinge. Stand your building upright. Put sheets of coloured paper on the base and behind the windows. Place a yellow lamp to the left and angle it onto the front of the building. You have created a composition typical of Hopper: night is falling and a man and a woman are alone in a café. 5. Now put the lamp inside the building and light up the second floor. Night has fallen. The man and woman are just silhouettes in the café. Upstairs, a light has been turned on in one of the apartments. A mysterious shadow appears. Just like in Hopper’s paintings, anything could be about to happen ! Olivier Morel

5 3

ARTUALITÃ&#x2030;S

OĂš est Andy ?

Nota bene for foreign editions The following 8 pages are our magazine part, dealing with news in museums, art books, childrens workshops... in France. For you foreign edition, you can either delete them or replace them by your own art news.

Le tour du monde des musĂŠes / BD

Le tour du monde des musées / JEU

Le reve

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Hollywood Africans, 1983. Acrylique et techniques mixtes sur toile, 213,4 x 213,4 cm. New York, Whitney Museum of American Art.

américain ?

Le Whitney Museum est avant tout le musée des artistes américains, et Basquiat est l’un des plus inclassables d’entre eux. Sauras-tu décrypter les secrets de cette œuvre… ? L’artiste

L’œuvre

Jean-Michel Basquiat est né en 1960 à New York. Il est originaire des Caraïbes, son père venant de Porto Rico et sa mère de Haïti (d’où son prénom français). Ses parents lui donne une bonne éducation, l’amenant souvent dans les musées, mais Jean-Michel Basquiat se passionne pour la culture de la rue. C’est là qu’il début sa carrière, en réalisant des tags, avant de rencontrer dans les boîtes de nuit des stars et des artistes comme Andy Warhol et Keith Haring. Graffiti, mais aussi musique, cinéma, peinture : Basquiat est un artiste touche-à-tout, mais il meurt très jeune, à l’âge de 27 ans. Il reste l’un des premiers peintres noirs à avoir été internationalement reconnu.

Les œuvres de Basquiat sont souvent « Sans titre ». Celle-ci est une exception : elle s’intitule Hollywood Africans, que l’on peut traduire par « les Africains d’Hollywood ». En donnant un titre à cette toile qu’il a peinte après un séjour à Los Angeles, Basquiat attire notre attention sur un thème : la condition des Afro-Américains dans le monde merveilleux d’Hollywood, et plus généralement aux États-Unis. C’est un thème fréquent dans son œuvre.

À toi de jouer ! Avant de peindre sur des toiles, le jeune Basquiat s’exprimait sur les murs de New York. Comme tu peux le voir, il a gardé ce style. Observe bien le tableau et essaye de chercher les mots et les dessins qui font référence aux thèmes suivants : le cinéma, l’esclavage et l’artiste lui-même. Par exemple, sauras-tu retrouver : • une gourmandise que l’on mange souvent au cinéma, • une plante cultivée par les esclaves noirs d’Amérique, • la date de naissance et le portrait de Basquiat… Cherches-en le plus possible (il y en a au moins trois pour chaque thème) et donne-nous tes réponses sur notre site : www.revuedada.fr

On y va ! Actualité du Whitney Museum

Le musée est situé au centre de Manha ttan, à New York. Expositions temporaires : « Charles Burchfield » (jui n-oct. 2010), « Christian Marclay » (juil.-sept. 2010), « Hopper et son épo que » (oct. 2010 - avril 2011). Renseignements : www.whitney.org ou 001 212 570 3600.

Le tour du monde des musées / JEU

OùaRtualités est Andy ?

aRtualités Où est Andy ?

Expositions

Cette rétrospective montre que oui, la mode est un art ! On y apprend qu’Yves SaintLaurent s’est inspiré des couleurs franches et violentes des peintres américains contemporains. Ou que de grands créateurs, Sonia Rykiel et Thierry Mugler par exemple, n’ont pas hésité à bousculer les conventions et à brouiller les codes vestimentaires de leur époque… N’est-ce pas là le propre d’un artiste ? Pour prolonger la visite, des ateliers jeune public proposent d’imaginer un défilé idéal ou de réaliser ses propres vêtements. Du 1er avril au 10 octobre 2010. PARIS Ier. Musée des Arts décoratifs, 107, rue de Rivoli. 01 44 55 59 26. www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr

Alechinsky. Les Ateliers du midi

Archi & BD. La ville dessinée Tout le monde connaît Gotham City, la ville de Batman, popularisée par les comics américains des années 1960 ! De manière générale, le thème de la ville fascine le 9e art depuis ses débuts. New York, Paris ou Tokyo sont une source d’inspiration pour toutes les générations de bédéastes, comme Tardi, Tezuka, Sattouf… Sans oublier les mégalopoles ultramodernes imaginées par Moebius ou Enki Bilal. Pour prolonger l’exposition, l’atelier « Paris-Tokyo, villes morceaux » propose aux enfants de 6 à 12 ans d’inventer les plans d’une ville avec l’aide d’un dessinateur de BD. Du 9 juin au 28 novembre 2010. PARIS XVIe. Cité de l’architecture & du patrimoine, Palais Chaillot, 1, place du Trocadéro. 01 58 51 52 00. www.citechaillot.fr

Histoire idéale de la mode contemporaine. Volume 1 : 70-80

Les années canadiennes de Tomi Ungerer On connaît bien les illustrations pour enfants et les célèbres affiches publicitaires de Tomi Ungerer. On connaît moins son travail de dessinateur naturaliste : en 1971, l’artiste s’installe en pleine nature, au Canada, dans une maison qu’il répare lui-même. Tous les jours, pendant quatre ans, il dessine ce qui l’entoure : colibris, porcs-épics, oies des neiges, ratons laveurs, mais aussi d’émouvants paysages désolés… Une vraie plongée dans la vie sauvage ! Pour les enfants, des mini ateliers de dessins d’animaux sont prévus. Du 1er avril au 8 août 2010. STRASBOURG. Centre international de l’illustration, 2, avenue de la Marseillaise. 03 69 06 37 27. www.musées-strasbourg.org

À 19 ans, le peintre belge Pierre Alechinsky traverse la France en auto-stop pour rejoindre le Midi. C’est le début d’une grande histoire d’amour… Dans le sillage des impressionnistes, il trouve l’inspiration au pied de la montagne Sainte-Victoire, puis à Arles ou à Uzès. Rouge flamboyant, jaune soleil, noir profond se croisent dans les 170 peintures, gravures et céramiques réunies pour l’occasion : un bel hommage à cette région aux couleurs lumineuses ! L’exposition propose des ateliers pour les enfants de 5 à 8 ans et des stages pendant les vacances d’été. Du 5 juin au 3 octobre 2010. AIX-EN-PROVENCE. Musée Granet, 18, rue Roux Alphéran. 04 42 52 88 44. www.museegranet-aixenprovence.fr

Fêtes et crimes à la Renaissance : la cour d’Henri III Mais qui donc a tué le fameux duc de Guise ? Ce jeu de piste organisé à l’occasion de l’exposition donne le ton : dans les allées du château de Blois se côtoient des tableaux de fêtes somptueuses, mais aussi des armures de chevaliers, des épées et de terribles scènes de bataille ! En bref, un xvie siècle d’or et de sang… Brrr ! Des visites familiales sont organisées tout l’été, et chaque enfant reçoit un livret-jeu pour découvrir l’histoire du château. Du 8 mai au 24 août 2010. BLOIS. Château royal de Blois, place du Château. 02 54 90 33 33. www.chateaudeblois.fr

Basquiat Graffeur, musicien, peintre et même acteur ! Jean-Michel Basquiat, artiste américain d’origine haïtienne, est connu pour ses toiles inspirées par la culture afro-américaine. Ses peintures reflètent une vie mouvementée : il vécut longtemps dans la rue, où il découvrit le racisme, la pauvreté, mais aussi le jazz et le hip-hop. La centaine de toiles et travaux sur papier exposés à la fondation Beyeler permet de revenir sur le parcours artistique d’un génie disparu trop tôt, à l’âge de 27 ans. Du 9 mai au 5 septembre 2010. BÂLE (SUISSE). Fondation Beyeler, Baselstrasse 101, Riehen. +41 (0)61 645 97 00. www.beyeler.com.

Où aRtualités est Andy ?

Où est Andy ? aRtualités

J’apprends la calligraphie chinoise, de Guillaume Olive

Livres & web

Juste à temps, Henri Cartier-Bresson, de Marie Houblon, éditions Autrement, dès 8 ans, 12,50 €, 20 p.

et Zhihong He, éditions Picquier, dès 6 ans, 18,50 €, 95 p.

Paris, d’Orith Kolodny et Francesca Bazzurro, éditions La joie de vivre, dès 8 ans, 14 €, 39 p. On le sait : Paris est magique ! La ville fourmille de lieux emblématiques qui charment ses visiteurs depuis des siècles, du Louvre aux buttes Chaumont en passant par la place des Vosges. Impossible de les dessiner encore de façon originale ? Loin de là ! Les deux auteurs de cet ouvrage donnent de chaque site une représentation colorée et onirique, aux allures enfantines, accompagnée d’une citation d’écrivain (Proust, Verlaine, Hugo…). Si ce petit cahier, pas toujours facile à suivre, n’est pas un guide de voyage idéal, il constitue en revanche une invitation à la rêverie qui séduira les amoureux (et les futurs amoureux) de la capitale.

Au premier plan, un homme de dos, en costume, le bras tendu. Derrière lui, un lac, des montagnes, une femme souriante qui approche. À l’extrémité du bras de l’homme, en équilibre sur sa main, un bébé debout, rieur et fier de lui... « C’est un grand rêve d’être porté sur une main », lit-on à côté de cette photo d’Henri Cartier-Bresson. Mais qui est l’auteur de cette réflexion pleine d’imagination ? Un élève de CM2 ! Eh oui, les enfants ont la parole dans cet album, où dix œuvres du grand photographe français sont accompagnées de commentaires d’écoliers. Une façon originale d’aborder les clichés du maître, qui incitera les jeunes lecteurs à observer avec attention et à oser exprimer eux aussi ce qu’ils ressentent.

La Chine occupe une place toujours plus importante sur la scène internationale : il est grand temps de s’intéresser de plus près à sa culture ! Étape n° 1 : la calligraphie, art de l’écriture à la frontière de la peinture. Attention, ce n’est pas facile… Il existe plus de 10 000 caractères chinois, qui doivent être tracés selon des règles précises. Heureusement, ce manuel nous prend par la main pour nous aider à donner les premiers coups de pinceaux. Les bases de la calligraphie y sont décomposées très simplement et quelques exercices permettent de mettre immédiatement en pratique les connaissances acquises. Un cd-rom propose de poursuivre l’expérience de façon encore plus didactique.

Collection « Je joue avec l’art », de Gillian Wolfe, éditions Circonflexe, dès 6 ans, 13 €, 42 p. Ne vous arrêtez pas au premier coup d’œil posé sur les livres de cette nouvelle collection… Certes, leur couverture et leur mise en pages semblent tout droit sorties d’une autre époque, mais il serait dommage de s’arrêter là. Car Points de vue et détails

Petite main chez Henri Matisse, de Jacqueline Duhême, Gallimard Jeunesse, dès 6 ans, 17 €, 62 p. « Vous voyez Jacqueline, toutes les réussites sont les résultats des efforts et du travail ! » Ces paroles de Matisse, Jacqueline Duhême, qui fut son assistante à la fin de sa vie, ne les a jamais oubliées. Dans ce livre, elle raconte avec tendresse leur rencontre, le quotidien du maître et ses habitudes de travail dans sa belle demeure provençale. Un ouvrage touchant, qui donne un éclairage inédit sur la personnalité de Matisse. On le découvre espiègle, paternel, et sans cesse tourné vers son œuvre : « Ce que je suis n’est pas important. C’est ce que j’ai fait », lui confia-t-il un jour…

et Expressions, gestes et regards sont deux bons guides pour apprendre à observer et interpréter les tableaux, ceux des maîtres du xvie siècle (Bruegel, de la Tour, Arcimboldo) autant que ceux des piliers de l’art moderne (Kandinsky, Picasso). Les commentaires des œuvres guident avec beaucoup de pédagogie le lecteur dans sa contemplation : c’est tout l’intérêt de ces deux ouvrages.

Crédits

Les éditions Arola remercient l’équipe de la Fondation de l’Hermitage ainsi qu’Anita Duquette du Whitney Museum pour l’aide apportée à la réalisation de ce numéro de la revue DADA.

aRtualités

Drôles d’artnimaux, de Caroline Larroche, éditions Palette, dès 4 ans, 16,50 €, 48 p. Où peut-on trouver un cochon tatoué comme un rockeur, une tête de vache faite d’une selle et d’un guidon de vélo, une araignée haute de 10 mètres ou encore un téléphone homard ? Nulle part ailleurs que dans l’ébouriffant zoo de l’art que contient ce petit livre ! Y sont rassemblées une quarantaine de peintures et sculptures, représentant les animaux de façon surprenante. Une courte note souligne le caractère original ou amusant de chaque œuvre présentée. Cet ouvrage ludique a aussi le mérite de faire découvrir les créations de nombreux artistes contemporains (comme Alain Séchas ou Xavier Veilhan), mêlées à celles des maîtres du siècle dernier : Picasso, Dalí, Magritte…

Le petit voleur de mots, de Nathalie Minne, éditions Casterman, dès 8 ans, 14,95 €, 32 p. Nathalie Minne n’est pas près de ranger ses crayons ! Le premier ouvrage écrit et dessiné par cette jeune graphiste est une vraie réussite. Sa fable est simple et adopte un ton juste : elle nous parle de la découverte du langage et du pouvoir des mots. On y voit le petit héros s’approprier la langue mot par mot, apprendre à raconter, à remercier, à parler d’amour… Cette quête est joliment illustrée par des dessins extra-larges, sans détails superflus mais riches de sens.

Visite virtuelle de la grotte de Lascaux www.lascaux.culture.fr La grotte de Lascaux est fermée au public ? Qu’à cela ne tienne ! Il suffit de se rendre sur l’époustouflant mini site réalisé par le ministère de la Culture. Vous découvrirez une visite virtuelle plus vraie que nature de la caverne, considérée comme l’une des plus célèbres de la préhistoire. Vous pourrez arpenter les couloirs sombres de la grotte et zoomer sur les parois pour admirer les dessins vieux de 15 000 à 18 000 ans, tout en bénéficiant de courtes explications. Pour les plus studieux, le site rappelle aussi l’histoire des recherches archéologiques à Lascaux, le contexte géologique et les difficultés de conservation. Une expérience virtuelle fascinante qui restitue tout le charme de ce lieu mythique.

© ADAGP, Paris 2010, pour les œuvres de ses membres. Couverture : Edward Hopper, Bureau à New York (détail), 1962. © Montgomery Museum of Fine Art, Montgomery, Alabama, The Blount Collection, 1989.2.24. P. 06-07 1) Edward Hopper, Le Jeune Garçon et la lune, 1906-1907. Legs de Josephine N. Hopper, n° inv. 70.1349 © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Photo : Geoffrey Clements. 2) Edward Hopper, Autoportrait, 1903-1906. Legs de Josephine Nivison Hopper, n o inv. 70.1253 © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Photo : Sheldan C. Collins. 3) Edward Hopper, Ombres, la nuit, 1921. Legs de Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, no inv. 31.691 © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. P. 08-11 1) Edward Hopper, L’Escalier du 48, rue de Lille à Paris, 1906. Legs de Josephine N. Hopper, no inv. 70.1295. © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Photo : Jerry L. Thompson. 2) Edward Hopper, Pont à Paris, 1906. Legs de Josephine N. Hopper, no inv. 70.1305. © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Photo : Jerry L. Thompson. 3) Edward Hopper, Le Pont des Arts, 1907. Legs de Josephine N. Hopper, no inv. 70.1181. © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Photo : Sheldan C. Collins. 4) Edward Hopper, Le Bistro, 1909. Legs de Josephine N. Hopper, n° inv. 70.1187 © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Photo : Geoffrey Clements. 5) Edgar Degas, Femme nue, accroupie de dos, vers 1876-1877. Fonds Orsay © RMN (musée d’Orsay) / Photo : Hervé Lewandowski. 6) Edward Hopper, Soir Bleu, 1914. Legs de Josephine N. Hopper, n° inv. 70.1208 © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Photo : Jerry L. Thomp-

son. P. 12-17 1) Edward Hopper, La Colline au phare, 1927. Don de Mr. et Mrs. Maurice Purnell © Dallas Museum of Art. 2) Edward Hopper, Station-service, 1940. Mrs. Simon Guggenheim Fund. 577.1943 © 2010. Digital image, The Museum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence. 3) Edward Hopper, Route dans le Maine, 1914. Legs de Josephine N. Hopper, 70.1201 © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Photo : Robert E. Mates. 4) Edward Hopper, Village américain, 1912. Legs de Josephine N. Hopper, no inv. 70.1185 © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Photo : Robert E. Mates. 5) Edward Hopper, Tôt un dimanche matin, 1930. Acquis avec les fonds de Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, 31.426 © Whitney Museum of American Art. Photo : Steven Sloman. 6) Edward Hopper, Pharmacie, 1927. Bequest of John T. Spaulding. Acc.n. 48.564 © 2010 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. All rights reserved/Scala, Florence. 7) Edward Hopper, Bureau, la nuit, 1940. Gift of the T.B. Walker Foundation, Gilbert M. Walker Fund, 1948, 1948.21. © Walker Art Center. 8) Edward Hopper, Soleil au balcon, 1960. Achat financé par l’association Friends of the Whitney Museum of American Art, n° inv. 60.54 © Whitney Museum of American Art, N.Y. Photo : Steven Sloman. 9) Edward Hopper, Matin en Caroline du Sud, 1955. Donné en mémoire d’Otto L. Spaeth par sa famille, n° inv. 67.13 © Whitney Museum of American Art, N.Y. Photo : Sheldan C. Collins. P. 18-23 1) Edward Hopper, Chambre d’hôtel, 1931. 594 (1977.110) © Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid. 2) Edward Hopper, Onze heures du matin, 1926. Don de Joseph H. Hirshhorn Foundation, 1966. 66.2504. © Smithsonian Institution / CORBIS. 3) Edward Hopper, Automat, 1927. Acquis avec le fonds d’Edmundson Art Foundation, Inc. 1958.2. © Francis G. Mayer / CORBIS. 4) Edward Hopper, Bureau à New York, 1962. © Montgomery Museum of Fine Art, The Blount Collection 1989.2.24. 5) Edward Hopper, Chambre à New York, 1932. UNLF.M. Hall Collection. © Photo : Sheldon Museum of Art. 6) Edward Hopper, Cinéma à New York, 1939. Given anonymously. 396.1941 © 2010. Digital image, The Museum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence. 7) Edward Hopper, Étude pour Cinéma à New York, 1939.

© Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Photo : Jerry L. Thompson. 8) Edward Hopper, Entrée dans la ville, 1946. Acquired 1947 © The Phillips Collection. 9) Edward Hopper, Soleil dans une chambre vide, 1963. © Collection particulière / Photo : Neil Greentree. P. 24-25 1) Edward Hopper, Oiseaux de nuit, 1942. Friend of American Art Collection. 1942.51. © The Art Institute of Chicago / Photo : Robert Hashimoto. 2) Edward Hopper, étude pour Oiseaux de nuit, 1942. Legs de Josephine N. Hopper, no inv. 70.195 © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Photo : Sheldan C. Collins. 3) Edward Hopper, étude pour Oiseaux de nuit, 1942. Legs de Josephine N. Hopper, no inv. 70.193 © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Photo : Sheldan C. Collins. 4) Edward Hopper, étude pour Oiseaux de nuit, 1942. Legs de Josephine N. Hopper, no inv. 70.256 © Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper, licensed by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Photo : Sheldan C. Collins. P. 26-27 3) Edward Hopper, Maison au bord de la voie ferrée, 1925. Given anonymously. 3.1930 © 2010. Digital image, The Museum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence. Les citations iconographiques des films sont extraites des DVD suivants : 1) Extrait du film de Robert Siodmak, Les Tueurs, 1946. © 1946 Universal Pictures International. Tous droits réservés. 2) Extrait du film d’Alfred Hitchcock, Psychose, 1960. © 1960 Shamley Productions, Inc. Renewed 1988 by Universal Studios. Tous droits réservés. 4) Extrait du film de David Lynch, Blue Velvet, 1986. © 1986 De Laurentiis Entertainment Group Inc. All Rights Reserved. P. 28-31 1) Walker Evans, Passagers du métro, New York, homme avec un chapeau et un pardessus, 21 janvier 1941. © Estate of Walker Evans. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Dist. RMN / image of the MMA. Walker Evans Archive, 1994 (1994.253.594.1). 2) Stephen Shore, Wolf Street, Philadelphia 10/28/75, 1975-2003. © et Courtesy de l’artiste et de la Gallery 303, New York 2010. 3) William Eggleston, Sans titre, (Homme assis sur un lit dans une chambre d’hôtel, Huntsville, Ala-

bama), vers 1970. © Copyright 2010 Eggleston Artistic Trust, courtesy Cheim and Read, New York. Used with permission. All rights reserved. 4) George Segal, Femme assise sur un lit, Où est Andy ? 1993. Achat, legs Horsley et Annie Townsend © Photo : Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, Christine Guest. 5) Edward Ruscha, Standard Station, 1966. John B. Turner Fund.1386.1968 © 2010. Digital image, The Museum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence. P. 44-45 (jeu) Jean-Michel Basquiat, Hollywood Africans, 1983. Acrylique et techniques mixtes sur toile, 213,4 x 213,4 cm. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, gift of Douglas S. Cramer 84.23 © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat / Photo : Bill Jacobson. P. 46-50 (expos, livres) 1) Visuel presse de l’exposition « Archi & BD » : Gabriella Giandelli, Silent Blanket, 1994 © Gabriella Giandelli. Benjamin, Savior, 2010 © Xiao Pan. 2) Visuel presse de l’exposition « Les Années canadiennes de Tomi Ungerer » : Tomi Ungerer, Meeting Place (dessin pour Slow Agony), 1971-1983. Crayon gras noir, lavis d’encres de couleur et rehauts de gouache blanche sur papier blanc, 60 x 88 cm. Collection musée Tomi Ungerer – Centre international de l’illustration, Strasbourg © Musées de la ville de Strasbourg / Diogenes Verlag AG Zurich. Photo : Mathieu Bertola. 3) Visuel presse de l’exposition « Alechinsky, les ateliers du midi » : À Grimaud (Var). Photo Micky Alechinsky, 1984. 4) Visuel presse de l’exposition « Fêtes & Crimes » : Jean-François de Troy, L’Assassinat du duc de Guise, vers 1723-1728. Huile sur carton, 23,8 x 18,1 cm. Pau, Musée national du château. © Pau, Musée national du château / Jean-Yves Chermeux. 5) Visuel presse de l’exposition « Histoire idéale de la Mode Contemporaine » : Jean-Paul Gaultier, Défilé prêt-à-porter, automne-hiver, 1986-1987 © Guy Marineau. 6) Visuel presse de l’exposition « Basquiat » : Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled, 1982. Acrylique, pastel gras et peinture à l’aérosol sur bois, 183 x 122 cm. Collection privée, Courtesy Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York © 2010, ProLitteris, Zurich. Visuel site web © Ministère de la Culture et

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7,50 € l’exemplaire - 6,50 € avant le n°125 - sauf 8 € pour le n°108. Disponibles en librairies, librairies de musées et sur les sites de vente en ligne (fnac.com, amazon.fr, alapage.fr, chapitre.com…).

Dans DADA, vous ne découvrez pas seulement les grands noms de l’histoire de l’art, mais aussi des artistes d’aujourd’hui.

156 : Qu’est-ce qu’un chef-d’oeuvre ? 155 : Made in Russia 154 : Ben 153 : Turner 152 : Le dessin 151 : Art et religions 150 : L’Art contemporain 149 : Renoir, et après 148 : Graffiti 147 : Tati 145 : Warhol étire le portrait 144 : Les Expressionnistes 143 : Égypte éternelle 142 : Manet, Picasso et les autres 141 : Le Futurisme 137 : Made in China 136 : Les Fauves 135 : Goya 133 : Le Design

Aude Samama

131 : Courbet 130 : Arcimboldo 129 : Picasso cubiste 124 : Total Japan ! 123 : Maurice Denis 121 : Yves Klein 119 : L’art dans la rue 118 : Le fil de l’art 117 : Le Douanier Rousseau 116 : Ingres et après 115 : Dans l’atelier 112 : L’Or 109 : L’esquisse 108 : Matisse, tout en découpages 107 : La Préhistoire 105 : La Gourmandise 98 : Collections, collectionner 97 : Blanc ! 93 : Les Singuliers de l’Art

Aude Samama débute sa carrière en 2002 avec En série, chez Frémok. Puis, elle réalise les biographies dessinées de Bessie Smith et d’Amalia Rodrigues dans la collection « BD Music » des éditions Nocturne, ainsi que L’intrusion chez Rackham. Elle réalise également des illustrations pour les éditions Naïve, le Seuil, Actes Sud Junior, Hatier.... En 2009, l’album Amato sur un scénario de Denis Lapière est publié aux éditions Futuropolis suivi de Lisbonne dernier tour écrit par Jorge Zentner aux Impressions Nouvelles. http://audesamama.ultra-book.com/

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