[audiobook] Hopper by Mark Strand in Arts-Photography

Review

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful. Less Criticism than Ekphrasis -- and Thats a Good Thing!By RJDamSalKudos to Knopf for reissuing this brilliant little book by Mark Strand. The originals paintings were in black and white. though I still loved it. the writing was so good -- prose poems. youd want to call the critiques. or rather appreciations. if the material werent so technical (though also accessible) -- and of course the paintings were all easily available online. This editions paintings are in color; the whole slim volume is gorgeous. in fact: an example of what Kindles and the like. much as I love mine. will never be able to replace. The chief reason for the kudos. however. is that this book was never a big hit. and even in this dying. big-hit industry (publishers lose money on well over 90% of the books they publish. or so Ive been told by people who would know). Knopf spent considerable money on a new edition of this book. for no other reason than that it deserves it. its that good -- beautiful. ingenious.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Shedding the Poets Light of Hoppers Use of Artistic Light!By Richard C. GeschkeMark Strand is a prose poet extraordinaire who I enjoy in reading his insightful prose in f poetic form. When I saw that he had a book in which he reviews the works of my most favorite American artist in Edward Hopper. I just had to delve into this work. Strand notes Hoppers use of light in all his painting. something that I was well aware of before I read this book. He expands on Hoppers use of light and his use of painting of subjects that are inside and in many cases looking onto the outside world. Many of the people used in Hoppers paintings are looking outward outside the canvas sightlines which Strand notes on many of the paintings where the human subject is prevalent. He notes the total indifference of the subjects in the painting in which they are concerned only in their world. Strand also notes that Hopper uses in his paintings the mysteries of what lies beyond his triangular spatial picture. One always looks at a Hopper painting and wonders what lies beyond the art we see in front of us. The lines which lead down the road of things not seen in the painting prove to be a mystery which Hopper creates. Just what does lie beyond the sight lines of the painting? The way Hopper uses light. his constant creation of looking from the outside inward and the sense of solitude are explained in detail by Strand. With Strand. we can look at the paintings of Hopper in a visceral form and see the uses of light. loneliness and a complete sense of calmness and solitude. Hopper uses the basic tenants of everyday life and shows to all that solitude and introspective thought in a good and calming way of viewing life in general. Strand studies the simplest nuances of Hoppers offerings and simply tells a basic and good way of looking at art. Strand does this without the extravagant intellectual exercises which neither helps the art student nor serves to merely confuse the student in the real intentions offered by the artist. Mark Strand breaks down the basics of the art style in which Hopper had developed over much of the 20th century. We see from Strand the innermost workings of the mindset of a great American artist.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A thoughtful introduction to HopperBy eclectic readerI had heard of hopper because of his painting of the poeple at a restaurant counter. Recently some allusions to his work in fiction prompted my curiosity and this is a good way to satisfy some of that curiosity and deepen it at the same tim. The author was poet laurete in 1990. Now i need to read his work as well. I read this book as a Kindle edition on an ipad. The illustration are adequately reproduced. Not long but thought provoking.