Stephen Hannock: Moving Water, Streaking Light

Known for his atmospheric landscapes--compositions of flooded rivers, nocturnes, and large vistas--Stephen Hannock's works demonstrate his keen appreciation for the quality of light that recalls the notable works of the Hudson River School and the Luminist painters, while expressing his own very personal experiences of the landscapes, people, and places that are dear to him. The Artist Book Foundation is pleased to announce the forthcoming publication of Stephen Hannock, the first monograph on this celebrated American artist in many years. While his subject matter is initially reminiscent of Thomas Cole and Frederic Edwin Church, Hannock moves beyond the influence of traditional landscape artists to create works that have been described as autobiographical narratives. Characterizing his works--canvases rich in color and dramatic light--as a reinvention of familiar vistas, he is focused on composing mood within a work to create a story that he literally writes into the fabric of the piece. His unique processes of layering paint and then sanding it achieve a polished, almost ethereal luminosity. The monograph also details his recent reintroduction in some of his work of phosphorescent paints that glow under black light, a medium he first used in the 1970s that he has brought into the twenty-first century with improved pigments and lighting technologies. His inclusion of diaristic texts and elements of collage to the mountains, waters, and fields of his scenes transform his landscapes into something akin to self-portraits. He attended Bowdoin College for two years before taking courses at Smith College. There, he studied with renowned sculptor and graphic artist Leonard Baskin. He also met the Mongan sisters, who would have significant impact on his early career; Agnes served as a curator and director of the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard, and Elizabeth was a curator at the National Gallery of Art. In 1999, Hannock won an Academy Award for "Special Visual Effects" for the film, What Dreams May Come, for which he created a 12-foot triptych to serve as the centerpiece of the movie. Hannock's work can be found in public collections throughout the United States, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York; The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York; The Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts; The Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, California; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas; and the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut, among numerous other public and private collections.