American Modernist Abstract Expressionist "Hard Edged" Oil on Canvas Painting by Budd Hopkins, 1967

New York Abstract Expressionist oil on canvass painting, by Budd Hopkins (1931-2011), signed and dated 1967. Hopkins' career spanned over five decades, serving as a bridge between the raw emotion of early mid-century abstraction and the clean precision of later movements. Arriving in New York in 1953, Hopkins befriended prominent artists like Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, and Franz Kline. Hopkins was very much a key figure of New York’s initial wave of abstract expressionists. His 'hard-edged' paintings, collages, and architectonic sculptures inspired art critic Michael Brenson to comment in The New York Times, "If the work is about sacrifice and violence, it is also about ecstasy and illumination." Hopkins earned a Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1976 and a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 1979. His work is in the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Art, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Hopkins resided in New York City and Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Hopkins was also a writer and prominent figure in UFO research. This painting is from Hopkins's 1960s Heyday, and demonstrates the atmospheric use of hard-edge geometric shapes. The painting having a monochromatic background and the paint applied in a light impasto technique, having a blue arrow shaped device and a displaced circular device giving way to another earth-toned space behind. The art curator April Kingsley, (Hopkins' wife from 1973-1991) argued that Hopkins' circles functioned like Mark Rothko's rectangles and were a "centralizing theme" in his work. The painting is signed and dated lower tight, "Hopkins '67", condition is very good indeed, this very attractive painting is ready to hang on your wall.