Left: Daniel Ranalli���s Snail Drawing/Double Line Start; Edward Hopper���s Blackhead
Island in Maine, which he painted in 1918. This work has all
the characteristics of Hopper���s best work, the simplification of
form and rhythmic harmony of composition which delights
the eye and draws the viewer into communication with the
chosen subject.
The early antagonism between traditionalists and modernists
in Provincetown had dissolved by the 1950s to the benefit of
the artistic community. Hofmann���s influence was national; at
the same time traditional impressionist techniques were being
taught in town by Henry Hensche in his school at the end of
Pearl Street.
Next door to Hensche, Ives Gammell was teaching in the
tradition of the Boston School, which fused attention to drawing
of the French Academy with Impressionist color observation.
Both Hensche and Gammell could see the analogy between
Hofmann���s theory of Push/Pull and the Impressionist use of
color and value to give the illusion of movement and space.
The common ground between Hofmann and Hawthorne is
their quest to create ���a richly orchestrated ���pictorial��� space in
which form, fusing with color, turns into a new reality ��� the
created painting.���
HYLAND
