Exhibition of My Favourite Paintings of Houses
Today I’m going to run a little on-line exhibition of My Favourite Paintings of Houses. Which artists will I choose? Who would you like me to include?
I will have to commence with American Edward Hopper (1882-1967) and invite him to bring a whole swag of his paintings of Houses as I consider him to be the expert. I’ve chosen Haskell's House as I love its grandeur and elegance but also, as I have Haskell DNA running in my blood, I'm hoping we are related to the owners.
I really don’t mind which paintings Edward Hopper lends to my little house exhibition. I have included Ryder's House as it looks the perfect place to recover from the school holidays!
Of course we can't leave out Hopper's fellow countryman, Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009). I love his Open House, though I might look for accommodation nearby!
An exhibition without Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) would be criminal. I will let him exhibit The Yellow House because he put so much effort into the house, which he wanted to share with his friend Paul Gauguin, but sadly the venture only lasted a couple of months.
When Vincent rented the house he wrote to his brother Theo: "Well, today I rented the right wing of this building (a sketch is enclosed) which is made up of four rooms or rather two with two closets. It is painted yellow outside, inside the walls are white lime-washed, facing the sunshine". Van Gogh rented only that part of the Yellow House that has the green shutters as shown in the painting. (vincentvangogh.org) Here is a copy of the sketch.
Note the use Van Gogh has made of yellow and blue (two primary colours), hallmarks of his work during the time he spent at Arles. The deep blue sky accentuates the yellow house which is also known by the titles The Street and The House and Its Environment. I have discovered something interesting which I didn't know and that is that, after completing the oil painting of The Yellow House Van Gogh, rendered it a second time in water colours. And I also discovered that the house itself was destroyed by a bomb during WWII though a plaque marks the spot where Van Gogh had his studio and living quarters on the Place Lamartine.
I'm going to allow Vincent to hang two paintings in my show. The second one is his Backyards of Old Houses in Antwerp in the Snow. I love painting backyards myself and I love this painting.
And an exhibition of paintings of houses would not be complete without Anton Pieck(1895-1986), another Dutch artist who loved to paint buildings in a most enchanting way, as illustrated by this one of Hansel and Gretel's House.
I can hear you screaming out for a Monet painting of his home at Giverny. But I much prefer Monet's Houses on the Achterzaan. Probably because I like to be near the water. This would be the perfect home for me.
We can't possibly conclude our exhibition of houses without a painting from the beautiful isle of Britain. This delightful painting is A Cottage with Sunflowers by Helen Allingham (1848-1926) who became famous who this type of romanticised image of earlier times.
Please send in your favourite painting of a house to add to the exhibition.