Stephen Hannock’s glowing, atmospheric landscapes of sweeping valleys show the influence his admiration for 19th Century painter Thomas Cole.
This is particularly evident in his painting with the rather cumbersome title: “The Oxbow: After Church, After Cole, Flooded (Flooded River for the Matriarchs E. & A. Mongan), Green Light” (images above, top with detail) that is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It’s interesting to compare it to Cole’s painting, also with a lengthy title: “View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm—The Oxbow“.
Hannock also painted the same scene in very different light as “The Oxbow: After Church, After Cole, Flooded (Flooded River for Fran)“, a painting in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Another of Hannock’s other major themes, though older, is nocturnes that show the influence of Whistler. He has three sets of them, along with more recent work, on his website. Unfortunately, the reproductions on his site, in contrast to the high resolution image available on the museum’s site, are frustratingly small given the generally large physical size of his work.
You can find some slightly larger images on the website of the John Berggruen Gallery.
One of the interesting aspects of his work that is only visible in the larger reproductions or in person is the addition of textural elements that are actually inscriptions, lines of text relating to personal events, family or friends. This is easiest to see in the large images on the Met’s site.
The artist’s website is somewhat confusingly arranged. From the Index page, be sure to investigate a number of the links to previous exhibitions to see additional images of the work.
There are print collections of his work available. Stephen Hannock by Jason Rosenfeld, Martha Hoppin and Garrett White is in print. Luminosity: The Paintings of Stephen Hannock and Stephen Hannock: Rockets and Flooded Rivers, along with other titles, can be found from used book sources.
