32 Artists&Illustrators
ART HISTORY
inthewoodshitbyninearrows.Likewise,FranciscoGoya’s
so-called“BlackPaintings”wereproducedtowardsthe
endoftheSpanishartist’scareerashelivedinnear-
solitudeattheQuintadelSordofarmhouseonthe
outskirtsofMadrid,afterbattlinga lifetimeofillnesses.
Whilenoonewouldwishtheselevelsofpersonaldistress
onanyone,theresultsarestaggeringworksquiteclearly
bornofintenseperiodsofisolation.
It canbehearteningtoremindoneselfthatsuch
extremesaren’tnecessarytoproduceenduringpaintings.
EdwardHopperis perhapstheartistmostdirectly
associatedwithdepictionsofloneliness,yethecreated
someofhismostaffectingpaintingsduringhismost
comfortableyears.Withhiscareerontrackfollowinga first
MoMAretrospective,hismarriagetoJorelativelystable,
andhisfinanceshealthyenoughtoenjoysummersinCape
Cod,Hopperneverthelessspentthe1930sand1940s
workingawayata seriesoflarge-scalepaintingsthattypify
ourmentalimageofseclusion.Aswellasbeinga
predictionofwhatsocially-distanceddiningmightlooklike,
1942’sNighthawkshasa hauntingqualitytowhichwecan
allrelatemorecloselyafterthreemonthsinoneplace.
WhileHopperfoundsolaceinthecity,PaulCézannehad
emergedfroma relativelydarkdecadein1860sParisto
spendhistimepursuinglandscapeandstilllifepaintings
inProvencewithhismistressMarie-HortenseFiquetand
theirsonPaul.Thepairmarriedin 1886 butwithinfive
yearswerelivingapart,astheartistembracedCatholicism
andbecameincreasinglyreclusive.Yetgroupsoffigures
definedhisworkduringthislaterperiod,whetherstudying
provençallocalsforhisCardPlayersseriesorleaning
towardsabstractionin hismanypaintingsoffemalebathers.
It wasasif hewasfindingcompanythroughhiscanvas.
Cézannebelievedworkingalonewasa testofhismettle,
a chancetoprovehisartisticintent.“Ifisolationtempers
thestrong,it is thestumblingblockoftheuncertain,”
henoted.Infact,onethinguponwhichperhapsallartists
acrosstheageswouldagreeis thatsolitudeandisolation
arefarfromeasy,asthatconceptofstrengthcomes
uptimeandagain.PaulGauguinagreedwithhisfriend
Cézannethat“onemustbestrongenough”toendure
a periodofisolation,whileEugèneDelacroixbelieved
thatthisstrengthoffeelingwasrepaidintheoutcome.
EchoingAgnesMartin,heonceremarkedthat“thethings
weexperienceforourselveswhenwearealonearemuch
strongerandmuchfresher”.
Inthelastthreemonths,muchoftheworldhas
beenforcedtospendmoretimealonethaneverbefore.
Howartistsembraceandchannelthatexperiencecould
beoneofthefewsilverliningstotheseturbulenttimes.With no one for company,
Vincent van Gogh found
deeper meaning in his
surroundings
RIGHT Vincent
van Gogh,
Wheat Field with
Cypresses, 1889,
oil on canvas,
93.4x73.2cm METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART. PURCHASE, THE ANNENBERG FOUNDATION GIFT, 1993