Painting the Neighborhood

Claude Monet, "The Highway Bridge at Argenteuil," 1876

Some painters are well-known for their habit of painting whatever area they lived in. Claude Monet painted in Argenteuil, a far suburb of Paris in the 1870s, and made some his most memorable paintings as he was exploring his concepts of light and color. While living there he painted a number of the works that later became the backbone of Impressionism. One of my favorites is The Highway Bridge at Argenteuil (above), from 1876. Monet painted this standing on the bank of the Seine, just across the river from the village. A sailboat club had its headquarters along the bank to the left, with a few of the boats moored nearby. Here Monet has painted the water in bits of color reflecting sky, banks, sails, and hulls placing the only red at the vanishing point. He painted views of a number of bridges, streets, the river, and other neighborhood places and all the while built his vocabulary of painting. He moved on to other sites and other opportunities, the most famous being Giverny.

Andrew Wyeth, "First Snow (study for Groundhog Day", 1959

Andrew Wyeth did something similar, but unlike Mr. Monet, he painted his two environments in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, and Cushing, Maine throughout his life. Unlike his predecessor, Mr. Wyeth founded no movement and remained a maverick during his lifetime, when the art world had turned to abstraction, installation, and other artwork rather than his more realistic paintings. And he painted in egg tempera, a decidedly unfashionable medium, too. Mr. Wyeth used to hike the woods and fields near Chadds Ford, painting and sketching the neighborhood. Many of his watercolors were made on the spot in the fields. He has been quoted simply: "I paint my life." To a fan of his work, a visit to the town is almost like coming home.

Upstream

Hoff, "Upstream #1," oil on panel, October 2019

The current pandemic has caused most of us to spend much more time at home or nearby than at our studios or in public. For me that's meant doing a lot of oil painting outdoors along our creek, where there are no crowds and no coronavirus. You might think that circumscribed location means less to paint, but that hasn't been a problem. Unlike many neighborhoods, I have a creek out back.

One of the benefits of painting outdoors is simply the chance to be out of the house. These spring days with warming temperatures and brighter, warmer light have been therapeutic as well as inspiring.  I've concentrated on a single view of Druid Hill Creek over the past few weeks, looking upstream on the creek. It has been instructive to study the trees, the creek, the streambed, and all sorts of things alongside. Last fall the foliage was dense and the banks overgrown with grasses (above).

Hoff, "Upstream, Early Spring," oil on panel, March 2020

In early spring the were hints of green against the sere, brown and grey ground. The rocks along bankside were even dull and the trees were grey-black in the weak sunshine. I painted the upstream view one morning when the temperatures were only in the forties, taking every opportunity to run indoors and warm up before going out and tackling it again. The result is nearly monochromatic and abstract.

Hoff, "Upstream, Spring Light," oil on panel, April 2020

As the weather became more hospitable and grasses and honeysuckle undergrowth leafed out it was easier to work outdoors. In the most recent upstream view, the opportunities for color exploration and compositional ideas were considerably more varied, and it took nearly six hours to complete (above). It's fortunate that this view is just out the studio door, so as the season progresses my home base will likely continue to be the neighborhood, even if the pandemic winds down and we can mingle again.

Stay safe.