East Wind Over Weehawken

East Wind Over Weehawken
Artist Edward Hopper
Year 1934 (1934)
Medium Oil on canvas
Dimensions 86.4 cm × 127.6 cm (34 in × 50.2 in)

East Wind Over Weehawken is an oil painting on canvas by American realist painter Edward Hopper. It was held in the collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in the United States from 1954 until its sale to an anonymous buyer in December 2013. That sale brought a record price for a Hopper.

Description

East Wind Over Weehawken is a street scene of a "curiously mismatched collection of four houses"[1] rendered in dark, earthy tones. It includes the gabled house at 1001 Boulevard East at the corner of 49th Street in Weehawken, New Jersey (40°46′43″N 74°00′47″W / +40.7785°N 74.0130°W / +40.7785; -74.0130)[2][3] and was painted during the Great Depression.[4] The piece measures 34 x 50.2 inches or 86.4 x 127.6 centimeters.[5]

The work was created during the winter of 1934.[6] Hopper writes in his poem about this painting that "only the grass, the uncut dead grass, shows where the wind is."[7]

The view of the Weehawken street remains mostly unchanged.[8][9] In 2013, Weehawken resident and comedian Susie Felber commissioned a modern remake of the painting in order to raise money for the Weehawken PTPO (a parent–teacher participating association). The remake, which was created by Brooklyn-based painter Stephen Gardner, depicts the scene as it appears now, with flowers and satellite dishes, and in lighter tones. Gardner's derivative painting was purchased on eBay for $510 by computer programmer Ligia Builes, who owns the house depicted in the painting.[2]

Provenance

Hopper made at least eight sketches for the painting which he delivered to his gallerist Frank K.M. Rehn in April 1934.[6][8] The studies are part of the collection at the Whitney Museum[10] to which Hopper, before his death, decided to leave his unsold work.[11]

East Wind Over Weehawken was included in the 1950 Hopper retrospective at the Whitney (New York), Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), and the Detroit Institute of Arts while still in the possession of Frank K.M. Rehn Galleries.[12] It was acquired by the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts directly from the gallery in 1952, fifteen years before the death of the painter, at a very low price.[13]

In 2013 the Pennsylvania Academy put the painting up for sale in the hopes of garnering the $22–$28 million at which the painting was valued,[14] which it intended to use to establish an endowment. About twenty five percent of the fund will be dedicated to filling gaps in the collection of historic art. The remainder will be used for new investments in contemporary art of undetermined value, with hopes for dramatic increases the future.[15]

The painting sold for $36 million ($40.5 million with fees[13]) – a record for a Hopper work – at Christie's in New York[16] to an anonymous telephone bidder.[17] The previous record, for Hotel Window sold in 2009, was $26.9 million.[18]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Souter, Gerry (2012), Edward Hopper Light and Dark, Parkstone International
  2. 1 2 Schwartz, Art (December 29, 2013). "Hopper comes home Woman buys modern version of $40M painting depicting her house on Boulevard East". The Hudson Reporter. Retrieved 2013-01-07.
  3. ↑ "Multi-million dollar corner in NJ goes on the block". CNBC. December 2, 2014. Retrieved 2014-01-14.
  4. ↑ Schmidt, Peter Edward Hopper's East Wind Over Weekhawken (1934), a Depression-era masterpiece, to be sold by the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts, Swathmore.edu
  5. ↑ "Auction Result: East Wind Over Weehawken by Edward Hopper". Art Net.
  6. 1 2 Levin, Gail (1998), Edward Hopper: An Intimate Biography, University of California Press
  7. ↑ Hoggard, James (2009), Triangles of Light: The Edward Hopper Poems, Wings Press
  8. 1 2 Levin, Gail (1998), Hopper's Places, University of California Press
  9. ↑ Buffum, Joanna (November 25, 2013). "Weehawken's Lasting Legacy Edward Hopper's 1934 painting, "East Wind Over Weehawken," will be auctioned by Christie's in New York on December 5". New Jersey Monthly. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  10. ↑ "Graphite on paper by Whitney Museum of American Art and Hopper, Edward from 1934". AMICA Library. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
  11. ↑ Tocher Clause, Bonnie (2012), Edward Hopper in Vermont, UPNE
  12. ↑ Goodrich, Lloyd (1950). "Edward Hopper Retrospective Exhibition". https://archive.org/. Retrieved 2014-01-14. External link in |publisher= (help)
  13. 1 2 Carswell, Vonecia (December 6, 2013). "1934 'East Wind Over Weehawken' painting sells for $36M at Christie's auction". The Jersey Journal.
  14. ↑ Salisbury, Stephan (August 29, 2013). "Pennsylvania Academy to sell Hopper painting". philly.com.
  15. ↑ Graham Bowley (August 27, 2013), "Pennsylvania Museum Selling a Hopper to Raise Endowment for Contemporary Art". The New York Times Retrieved 2014-01-07
  16. ↑ "Edward Hopper (1882-1967) East Wind Over Weehawken". Sale 2750, Lot 17. Christie's. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
  17. ↑ Frank, Robert (December 5, 2013). "Edward Hopper painting sets new record with $40.5 million sale". CNBC. Retrieved 2014-01-14.
  18. ↑ "Edward Hopper 'bleak' painting sells for record $40m". BBC News. December 6, 2013. Retrieved 2013-01-07.
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