The contemporary city: photorealism and hyperrealism.

Cityscape painting flourished after World War II, already appearing in the repertory of the abstract expressionist painters, for example in the "City landscape" by Joan Mitchell (1955, Art Institute of Chicago) or in some audacious pictorial experiments by Willem de Kooning.

Departing from the dominant abstract expressionism of the late 40's and early 50's, the painters of the "Bay Area Figurative Movement" resorted to figurative painting to depict the light of the West Coast. Richard Diebenkorn (1922-1993) began adopting the style of abstract expressionism, but soon changed to figurative language ("Cityscape I”, 1963, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art). Wayne Thiebaud, also famous for his paintings of toys and candies, is also known for his views of avenues and huge highways in California, an artistic production in which he is still active today.

But the most important contribution to cityscape painting in recent times has been made by photorealist and hyperrealist painters. Within the first group, the most important is figureRichard Estes (born 1932), possibly the most important New York cityscapes painter since George Bellows, whose artistic production spans from the brilliant "Horn and Hardart Automat" (1967) to the recent "Broadway Bus Stop, Near Lincoln Center” (2010). In addition to Estes, we should mention the works of Rackstraw Downes (born 1939), a British-born artist working in New York, and Yvonne Jacquette (born 1934), known for her many aerial views of the great American cities. And among the hyperrealist painters, let’s not forget about Antonio Lopez, Spanish painter whose "Gran Vía" (1974-1981) is already part of the history of Spanish painting, and an icon of hyperrealist painting.

George Bellows: New York, 1911

Roman fresco depicting a coastal city, found in Stabiae

Ambrogio Lorenzetti: City by the Sea (c.1335)

Vittore Carpaccio: Miracle of the Relic of the True Cross (1494)

Johannes Vermeer: View of Delft, 1660-61

Canaletto: The Stonemason's Yard, c.1765

Utagawa Hiroshige: Night view of Saruwakacho, 1856

Gustave Caillebotte: Paris Street, rainy day, 1877

Camille Pissarro: Boulevard Montmartre at night, 1897

Childe Hassam: The Avenue in the rain, 1917

Edward Hopper: Nighthawks, 1942

Marc Chagall: Paris through the window, 1913

Fernand Léger: The city, 1919

George Grosz: Metropolis, 1917

Piet Mondrian: Broadway Boogie Woogie, 1942-43

Antonio López: La Gran Vía, 1974-81
© Antonio López

Wayne Thiebaud: Ocean City, 2006
© Wayne Thiebaud, ARS New York

Richard Estes: Broadway Bus Stop, Near Lincoln Center, 2010
© Richard Estes, ARS New York
courtesy Marlborough Gallery, New York

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14