The Hyde Collection Unveils Spring Exhibition Richard Estes: Urban Landscapes

The Hyde Collection proudly presents one of its highly anticipated summer exhibitions,  Richard Estes: Urban Landscapes, running from May 31 to September 15, 2024. The exhibition features  a meticulously curated selection of screenprints and paintings by Richard Estes, the celebrated American  artist born in 1932 and a pioneering figure in the Photorealism movement.  

Photorealism emerged in the 1960s as a counterpoint to the predominantly abstract art of the era. It offers  a breathtaking level of detail that blurs the line between painted canvas and photographic precision. Estes’  works, celebrated for their meticulous attention to the nuances of urban environments, offer viewers a  unique lens through which to re-experience the familiar vistas of city life. 

Estes is famous for his cityscapes depicting New York, San Francisco, Rome, and other metropolises. Yet  rather than glorifying impressive skylines or bustling urban squares, his cityscapes are intimate, up-close  views of storefronts, street corners, restaurants, or bus and subway interiors. Remarkably realistic  reflections in glass and metal stun the eye; architectural detail and masterful perspective reveal the depth  of Estes’ drafting skills. His views never include people, and a meditative quiet reigns in his work despite  the clamor of city living. Estes’ celebrations of concrete and girders, plate glass windows,  and typeface have a uniquely somber beauty that invites prolonged study and introspection. 

Derin Tanyol, Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art at The Hyde, remarks, “Richard Estes captures the  essence of urban life with a precision that challenges our perceptions of reality. His works, despite their  photorealistic detail, are complicated, simultaneous studies of interior and exterior spaces that force us to  ask where we stand. This exhibition is not just an exploration of Estes’ art; it’s an invitation to see our  everyday environment through a profoundly different lens.” 

The Hyde’s installation of Richard Estes: Urban Landscapes will be accompanied by recorded urban  soundscapes that allow visitors to experience what Estes might have heard as he snapped the photos he  took while walking the city streets in search of subject matter and compositional details for his paintings  and prints. An interactive city model will invite visitors to create their own three-dimensional cityscape.  

Richard Estes: Urban Landscapes is organized by the Portland Museum of Art, Maine. The exhibition  was curated by Jaime DeSimone, former Robert and Elizabeth Nanovic Curator of Contemporary Art, Portland Museum of Art, Maine. Support provided by Art Bridges. 

The Hyde Collection is open Thursday through Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm. Additional Museum summer  hours include Mondays from 10 am to 5 pm, June 10 through August 26, 2024. 

Thank you, 2024 Signature Exhibition Sponsors: The Hoopes Family

Educational Offerings: 

Create with us . . . be a part of a contemporary art exhibition at The Hyde Collection!  

Be a sound artist! As part of the Richard Estes: Urban Landscapes exhibition, we invite individuals or  collaboratives to record an outdoor soundscape representative of where you live or work. While music  constitutes the most familiar form of soundscape, sound artists working today use the sounds of their  daily lives or seek out sounds beyond their daily lives to create audio compositions that immerse the  listener in an experience beyond the visual. You’re invited to be a sound artist and make an audio clip to  be incorporated into the Richard Estes: Urban Landscapes exhibition at The Hyde! 

Audio files can be recorded directly on a smartphone device using various applications, including MP3,  MP4, or WAV files. They should be edited to a minimum of 10 seconds and a maximum of 30 seconds and submitted using the online form found on our website. The submission deadline is June 20 to be  included in the first version of the community soundscape.  

Additional events providing visitors with an opportunity to engage with the exhibition Richard Estes:  Urban Landscapes include: 

• Museum guided tours are offered every Saturday and Sunday from 1-3 pm, on the second  Thursday of the month from 10 am-12 pm, and again from 1-3 pm.  

• Yoga with Cat occurs outside or in the galleries, depending on the weather. Sessions are  scheduled for June 24 from 11 am to 12 pm, July 18 from 5-6 pm, and August 16 from 10-11 am.  • Community Day, August 4, from 10 am to 4 pm, is a free day this summer to explore the  exhibitions.  

• The two-day ekphrastic writing workshop with Jackie Goodwin is scheduled for August 8 and 15  from 11-12:30.  

• Also on display is a pair of sculptures on the Museum grounds called The Carmelites by Mia  Westerland Roosen, who emerged in the 1970s as one of the most prominent female sculptors of  the day. Roosen adeptly turns materials that appear weighty and hard into flexible, organic forms. 

• On June 10 at 10 am, The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame joins The Hyde  Collection for a special Presentation and Museum Tour: Horses in Art. An exclusive look at some  of the most iconic images and paintings from the world of equine sports just in time for the  opening of this year’s Belmont Stakes in Saratoga Springs. Showcasing a selection of The Hyde’s  art collection, this presentation will discuss the various pieces on display at the Museum,  including some that aren’t yet on public display, followed by a guided tour through the Museum.  $12 / free for members. Register at hydecollection.org. 

*With thanks to Francine and Robert Nemer for their lead sponsorship of 2024 Educational Programs. 

About Art Bridges Foundation:  

Art Bridges Foundation is the vision of philanthropist and arts patron Alice Walton. Since 2017, Art  Bridges has created and supported projects that bring outstanding works of American art out of storage  and into communities. Art Bridges partners with a growing network of over 200 museums of all sizes and  locations on nearly 900 projects—impacting more than 5.3 million people across 49 states and Puerto  Rico—to provide financial and strategic support for exhibition development, loans from the Art Bridges  Collection and Partner Loan Network, and programs designed to educate, inspire, and deepen engagement  with local audiences. The Art Bridges Collection represents an expanding vision of American art from the  19th century to present day and encompasses multiple media and voices. For more information, visit  artbridgesfoundation.org

About The Hyde Collection:

The Hyde is one of the Northeast’s exceptional small art museums with distinguished European and  American art collections. The core collection, acquired by Museum founders Charlotte and Louis Hyde,  includes works by such artists as Sandro Botticelli, Tintoretto, El Greco, Rembrandt, Peter Paul Rubens,  Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Georges Seurat, and Pablo Picasso  and American artists Thomas Eakins, Childe Hassam, Winslow Homer, James McNeill Whistler, and  Anna Hyatt Huntington. The Museum’s Modern and Contemporary art collection features works by artists  including Josef Albers, Dorothy Dehner, Sam Gilliam, Adolph Gottlieb, Grace Hartigan, Ellsworth Kelly,  Sol LeWitt, Robert Motherwell, Ben Nicholson, Robert Rauschenberg, and Bridget Riley. Today, The  Hyde offers significant national and international exhibitions and a packed schedule of events that help  visitors experience art in new ways. Visit www.hydecollection.org     

Throughout the years, the Museum has expanded considerably from the historic Hyde home. It includes a  modern museum complex with an auditorium, classroom, five galleries, and a state-of-the-art storage  facility.