Autumn in New York, Edward Hopper, and Pinot Noir.

“That time of year…when yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang.” Shakespeare, Sonnet 73

Edward Hopper (1882-1967) famously commented, “If you could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint.” Yet, he appreciated the written word, especially those of Shakespeare, so it is fitting that he should paint this homage to the master of words in a scene of Central Park and its statue of the bard. Hopper is often associated with isolation and loneliness. Fittingly here, even though this is New York City, there are no people in the park, as though the artist were the one person, sitting alone on a park bench, looking at this autumn twilight scene. The city and the world are out there just beyond the trees, but here in this select space are silence and perhaps memories.

Luminosity is one of the qualities Hopper’s work is known for. This interest in light and its effects may date back to his early trips to France where he was influenced by the works of Edgar Degas, known for his extraordinary use of light in his portraits of ballet dancers. Hopper, in his studies in New York, worked with Robert Henri, who emphasized painting the everyday world in a realistic fashion. Hopper’s work above certainly shows realism, yet there is something in it that is unreal, as though elements in it have been pared down and stylized. The grassy areas are beautifully spaced ovals, leaving large open paths for strolling. Oddly where the trees have lost their leaves, there is no indication of colorful leaves, even just a few, on the grass or the pathways. The artist has eliminated any excess, leaving an unnatural precision to an area that realistically would show the effects of being high trafficked. That increases the focus on the light coming from behind the buildings. It shines golden with an odd turquoise sky that puts the buildings into silhouette to herald the approaching darkness of night.

“I may not be very human,” Hopper once said. “All I want to do is paint sunlight on the side of a building.”

Certainly Hopper made a specialty of working with the way sunlight falls on buildings, inside and out. His Early Sunday Morning (1930) is probably the classic play of pale dawn light washing down the front of a rather ordinary brick building. It has the feel of the familiar, the known, and yet, since there is no other activity, we are not distracted by thoughts of what may be going on inside the building, behind those shade-drawn windows. All of that seems to be still asleep. So we concentrate on the light falling on the brick, the shadows it creates, and the still darkened shop windows. If we want to, we can imagine the life that will appear on the streets within a few hours as the area where this building exists comes to life in its normal ordinary way. But for the moment captured in this painting, all that is yet to come, and the viewer, still wiping sleep from the eyes, may just have noticed how the soft morning light falls on the building across the way.

However, when we look at Rooms by the Sea (1951), something very different is going on. Yes, we have a set of rooms, whether in a house or a hotel suite one cannot tell. The light is bright, full, sun on a wall in a room that has minimal indication of how it is appointed; in fact, the wall of sunlight hides a more interior room where a part of the furnishings can be seen. The viewer sees a great expanse of sea through an open door. It all seems normal and inviting until you notice that the door lets you drop right into the choppy waters.

The odd structure of this room makes it seem specifically fabricated by the artist to allow him the maximum ability to show off the effect of sunlight on the side of that wall. In fact, the open door works like an invitation for the light to come in. The way the door opens onto deep ocean water is perhaps the artist being cheeky by presenting literally rooms side-by-side with the sea, with nothing to separate them. This little subtlety can go unnoticed at first, but when one does notice, it changes the feeling of the painting. Its “realism” comes into question and puts the viewer off balance.

“No amount of skillful invention can replace the essential element of imagination.” Edward Hopper

The element of imagination is at play in all of Hopper’s works, which may be one of the reasons, besides his life-long love of the cinema, that he has sometimes been called a cinematic painter. His lonely old House by the Railroad (1925) echoes in films like George Stevens’ Giant and Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Perhaps his most cinematic is Nighthawks (1942), as it has a film noir quality to it. It was used as such in an ad a few years ago for the CSI television series, where around the bar sat the cast of the Las Vegas based series. The series paid homage to Hopper’s painting by using it to plant clues for two of its episodes.

“Great art is the outward expression of an inner life of the artist…” Edward Hopper.

For one last look at Shakespeare at Dusk, it is instructive to consider the exhaustive biography of Edward Hopper done by Gail Levin, Edward Hopper, the Art and the Artist, 1980. Within it she looks at Hopper’s painting of this autumn in New York scene and the connection he made to Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73, which sees the falling leaves of autumn as the harbinger of death to come. She notes that Hopper’s mother, who had been his surviving parent, died that year, which may have brought to mind his own inevitable mortality. So yes, the inner life of the artist expresses itself and here, and certainly it does so in great art. Since all great art desires a great wine, for this autumn painting by Hopper, the suggestion is a glass of red Burgundy (Pinot Noir).

Paintings by Hopper are used in accordance with Fair Use Policy for purposes of critique and review.

Marjorie Vernelle is an artist, writer, college professor, and traveler. For more see the Pages at ofartandwine.com or her author page at amazon.com and her art at Vernelle Art Boutique vernellestudio.com.

Autumn: Cool breezes, golden leaves and red Burgundy (Pinot Noir)

Yes, the Dukedom of Burgundy was a real powerhouse back in the 15th century, and rival to the then relatively small Kingdom of France. As such, the royal court of Duke Philip the Good never failed to put on lavish exhibitions of wealth and power. Above one sees a representation of the wedding celebration for Duke Philip when he married Isabel of Portugal in 1430. One thing for sure, they had some red Burgundy wine at that party.

Don’t think, however, that those old Burgundians were the first to see the benefits of this grape and the wines that could be made from them. Oh no, the Romans beat them to it. It was one of their discoveries when they conquered Gaul. A stronger influence on the popularity of Pinot Noir than even the Romans was that of the Catholic Church, which deemed it to be a good wine for sacrament. Well, that cemented its popular usage, as any wine good enough for Jesus was good enough for everyone else.

We know that it is a good choice for pairing with about any food, but let’s get to some specifics here. It seems to really delight with Asian food, and that is anything from sushi, sashimi, teriyaki, to Chinese dim sum, to Tandoori chicken or lamb. In fact spicy foods go well with Pinot Noir, as do both hard and soft cheeses. In France it is often served with duck or other game meats as the tannin in Pinot Noir brings out the flavor. However, it is also a favorite with Italian pastas, lean meats, pesto and pizza. For a short tutorial on food pairings with Pinot Noir, I turn you over to Sommelier Theo Rutherford, who celebrates Pinot Noir Day : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkPrGML5_-Q

The Secret Life of Pinot Noir

Yes, every good wine has a life of its own. Pinot Noir has a few little secrets. The quality of the tannin and the richness of the color can be determined by the use of whole cluster fermentation. Yes, they put the grapes and the stems both into the fermentation process. It does not mean that the vintners always include all of the stems. Some mixes have 20% of the grapes with the stems, some have 40%, and so on. The stems, depending upon the time of year the grapes are harvested, add different herbal and vegetal flavors, like those found in green stems to the more mellow spice of wood, the forest floor and flowers found once the stems go brown. To fully appreciate the rich notes of this wine, you should have a bell-shaped glass, which allows the aromas to collect and funnel into your nose. Pinot Noir should be served slightly chilled, around 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

If you are someone who is on the small glass of red wine per day regime (for medicinal and healthy heart purposes only), then Pinot Noir is great. It has 3.4 grams of carbs, and 120 calories in a 5 oz. serving, and it tastes good. Lastly, just for curiosity, did you know that there is a White Pinot Noir or Pinot Noir Blanc? The color is white-gold to golden saffron, and the taste is of fruit, like pear, apple, lemon and orange zest.

So as the leaves turn to gold and sun begins to set earlier each day, welcome in the autumn with a glass of Pinot Noir. You’ll be glad you did.

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©marjorie vernelle 2019

Coming soon on Of Art and Wine: Leonardo in the Loire Valley and Vouvray Wine

Leonardo da Vinci spent the last years of his life Amboise, France, on an estate called the Clos Lucé as the guest of King Francis I. The idea of his living in the Loire Valley, the valley of French royalty, makes me wonder what great wines he might have had. The one that comes to mind when I think of his drawings is Vouvray, for it is as light, delicate and fresh as da Vinci’s fine draughtsmanship .