Approach of Night (Hoboken)

Hailed by The New York Times as a "star" of the 2005 exhibition of Bluemner's work held at the Whitney Museum, Approach of Night (Hoboken) exemplifies the artist's renowned use of vibrant red that granted him the nickname, ‘Vermillionaire.’ While inspired by his surroundings in industrial areas of New Jersey, Bluemner took the landscape only as his starting point, employing color and composition to create completely unique visions as epitomized by Approach of Night (Hoboken). Indeed, Bluemner once explained, “These strongly colored, sharply formed, solid—one might say—‘unearthly pictures’ are based upon motifs from New Jersey…but only as a general motif. For I wish to convey not the reproduction of nature for the sake of sentiment or accuracy, but perhaps like the musician—though based on the real world—I want to create freely, artistically." (as quoted in J.R. Hayes, Oscar Bluemner: Landscapes of Sorrow and Joy, exhibition catalogue, Washington, D.C., 1988, p. 34)

Bluemner painted eight canvases between 1913-16, utilizing a meticulous planning process that involved writing diligent notes in his diary, creating multiple pencil sketches and making color notes, followed by full-scale charcoal drawings and half-scale watercolor studies. Approach of Night (Hoboken) was executed as a watercolor study for his oil Emotional Reconstruction of a New Jersey Place, formerly in the collection of the Phoenix Art Museum. The charcoal study for this painting is in a private collection.