All artists use light strategically to achieve specific goals. But how does the visual language of Turner, Hopper, and Wyeth make them stand out from the others?

JMW Turner is known for capturing the ephemeral qualities of light and atmosphere in his paintings to produce an emotional experience. He experimented with soft, diffused light to create a sense of intimacy and calm, harsh, directional light to introduce tension and mystery, and backlighting to evoke curiosity. His bold brushwork often broke down recognizable forms, and he used a palette knife or even his fingers to manipulate a painting’s surface for greater dramatic effect.

Edward Hopper contrasted bright artificial light with the darkness of night to produce a sense of melancholy and isolation. Long, dark shadows of dawn and twilight invoke a sense of introspection in many of his scenes. He painted with a loaded brush, emphasizing pure form and suggesting the artificial nature of art. Through a skillful use of light and composition, Hopper suggested a narrative, leaving it to the viewer to imagine the rest.

Andrew Wyeth painted local scenes in egg tempera and drybrush watercolor, mediums which allowed him to build up a complex surface, producing subtle variations of light. This lighting, combined with unusual perspectives, created a sense of mystery, of the surreal, which Wyeth referred to as “magical realism.”

All three painters left us with a prodigious number of masterpieces. In this course, we will learn about the life and times of each artist. We will see how they used light and shadow in original ways to elicit a wide range of feelings. And we will discover what sorts of ideas they strove to reveal through their art.

Each class will consist of a presentation accompanied by a selection of slides. Students will be encouraged to ask questions or make comments about each work of art as we move from slide to slide. Rather than a lecture, this should be viewed as a discussion of the meaning and significance of the art of Turner, Hopper, and Wyeth. Weekly class preparation should take about an hour and a half.