Comments on: Defending Edward Hopper

By: Defending Edward Hopper · Kokorec

Defending Edward Hopper · Kokorec — Tue, 29 May 2007 21:55:39 +0000

[...] ….from The New York Times. Over at newcritics, Hopper gets the love. [...]

By: Tom Watson

Tom Watson — Wed, 16 May 2007 00:14:28 +0000

Great comments. It’s true: no need to punch the ticket. That said, cultural snobbery in a venue like the front page of the NYT arts section should be called out. And you know, they love Hopper in Gloucester.

By: Kathleen Maher

Kathleen Maher — Fri, 11 May 2007 22:20:26 +0000

Because a lot of beautiful art remains ignored, except possibly by certain aesthetes, it hardly follows that celebrated, widely appreciated art is less beautiful. Ultimately, I think the virtue of all art, painting, dance, music, etc, is subjective, and should be.

By: Kevin Wolf

Kevin Wolf — Thu, 10 May 2007 16:49:09 +0000

I’ll be seeing the show, I hope sooner rather than later. I do think the MFA tends to play it safe and with an artist as popular as Hopper I think that likely holds true.

The question will be whether the show invites any kind of reassessment of Hopper or his work or even a portion of his output. Maybe it plays it too safe and does not.

That would be a valid criticism in a review of the show. And if, again, true perhaps Cotter was disappointed in the show and felt he had to say something. Then he went after Hopper, not the exhibit itself.

I find too much in Hopper, painting after painting, to ever be as dismissive as Cotter.

By: blue girl

blue girl — Thu, 10 May 2007 14:56:43 +0000

I donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t need my ticket validated.

Great line.

Is Holland Cotter part of newcritics? Then what the heck does he matter anyway?

By: OutOfContext

OutOfContext — Wed, 09 May 2007 20:33:52 +0000

Sure it’s all about social prejudice or, I would argue, cultural prejudice. It’s a cognoscenti thing. I’m not going to preach about it, I get a pang of it (in reverse, and on a less exalteted leve, I guess) when I hear “Ever Fallen In Love With Someone” or “Pink Moon” on a commercial.
Hopper is a light magician and that’s what I look for in the visual arts. I don’t need my ticket validated.

By: Claire

Claire — Wed, 09 May 2007 16:15:30 +0000

I agree with estiv, there is definite social prejudice in Cotter’s piece. It reminds me of people complaining that people read trashy books or something. It’s good people are reading or appreciating art! Regardless of the content. People have to start somewhere.

But I love Hopper and would love to see this exhibit.

By: estiv

estiv — Wed, 09 May 2007 15:24:19 +0000

I think Cotter is also injecting a kind of social prejudice. His comments on “Second Story Sunlight” suggest that the lives depicted therein are either uninteresting as subjects for a painting or, perhaps, do not even really exist. While it’s true that a petit bourgeois often knows little of fine art, devotees of fine art frequently return the favor by ostentatiously caring nothing for the lives of such people. Not that I have a personal stake in such matters, of course…
Now, when is “Hopper’s Silence” going to be released on DVD?