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      Lost Art Salon
      • | All Art
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      • I Lucy Howard Cohen
      • | Gaétan Caron
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      • | Artist by Name
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        Hope Meryman

        Hope Meryman

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        Hope Brooks Meryman (1931-1975)

        • The Collection
        • The Story
        • This group of woodcuts on paper by Hope Brooks Meryman were made during her all too short art career in New York City in the 1960s. Meryman was a master at capturing the feeling of a moment, the atmosphere of a particular place or the character of an individual. She cut little moments into large-scale woodblocks, giving them a timeless and iconic presence. Her life in New York City, her vacations to New England and her travels to the Mediterranean informed much of the imagery in her work. Hope sketched on location, then transformed her drawings into woodcut prints in her studio by using the traditional method of hand-rubbing each edition. Hope passed away in her early 40s.

          During her lifetime, Hope Meryman's work was shown by the Carus, Greenwich and Associated American Galleries in New York. She exhibited extensively across the country, including the Library of Congress, the Print Club of Philadelphia, Silvermine, and the American Watercolor Society. She illustrated several books, including "Akimba and the Magic Cow", "Why the Sky is Far Away", and "One Summer". Meryman studied extensively with Antonio Frasconi, John Groth, Seong Moy and George Grosz.

          A passion for art continues in her family. Today, her sister Meredith Brooks Abbott is a well known member of the Oak Group of artists in the Santa Barbara area of California. And her sister, Whitney Brooks Hansen, continues to paint and make woodcuts in Long Island, New York.

          The following was written by Hope’s surviving husband, Richard Meryman, author of "Andrew Wyeth: A Secret Life":

          Hope Brooks Meryman, known as Hopie, was born in Los Angeles in 1931. She was the very definition of a commitment to art. Her father, Robert Brooks, contributed an art gene. During World War I, with no art training whatsoever, he illustrated his letters to his wife, Hope, with superb and witty pencil drawings portraying how much he missed her: a knight in armor pulling an arrow from his chest.

          In 1945 Brooks moved the family to the semi-isolation of a self-sufficient dry-farmed bean and lemon ranch outside the small town of Carpinteria, CA. He also raised sheep on San Miguel Island. Hopie's little brother Bobby followed his father into farming. Hopie and her three younger sisters--Palmer, Whitney, and Meredith--created for themselves a little world of creativity, a self-made hothouse of art. Their idea of a game was one sister describing a picture from a magazine and the others blindly drawing it. The closest image won that round. At birthday parties the table was a platform for super-elaborate creations: a cutout portrait of Meredith as Alice in Wonderland which was surrounded by all her animals. At their colleges, the sisters majored in art, Hopie at Connecticut College with one year at Scripps. All ended up as full time artists.

          In 1951 Richard Meryman, Jr.--the son of the portrait and landscape artist Richard Meryman and a correspondent for Life Magazine in its Los Angeles Bureau--was brought by his cousin to meet the ravishing Brooks girls. Hopie was driving out as the two drove in. Richard was galvanized by this beautiful, smiling redhead, framed by the car window and radiating charm. They began regular weekends together in Carpinteria and Santa Monica. In 1953 they were married just before he was transferred to Chicago. There she took a correspondence course in watercolor. Her closest female friend was an illustrator and at the kitchen table Hopie experimented with that craft.

          In 1956 Richard was promoted to editor and brought back to New York, the capital of the arts for Hopie. Her compulsion went into high gear. Soon she was studying at the Arts Students League. Her life drawing class was taught by John Groth, the book illustrator and noted World War II artist for the Chicago Sun. His works are in the collections of New York's Metropolitan Museum and Museum of Modern Art, among others. John became Hopie's mentor, companion on sketching expeditions, and close friend.

          Hopie also studied at Pratt Graphic Art Center taking classes from the German artist, George Grosz, and from the distinguished graphic artist Seong Moy who introduced her to wood block printing, giving her all the necessary tools, the ink rollers, knives and scoops. She joined a workshop where she was surrounded by engravers and lithographers. She talked technique with her father-in-law who had been head of the art school at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.--and he painted her portrait. Two other major mentors and influences were Antonio Frasconi and his wife Leona Pearce. Antonio is one of America's foremost wood block artists, depicting poetic landscapes and social commentary. Leona's prints shared Hopie's signature fascination with the joyous innocence of children at play. She and Richard adopted two girls, Meredith and then Helena. Leona was Godmother to Meredith.

          In New York Hopie worked for a time at the prestigious Betty Parsons Gallery, and eventually was herself represented by four galleries in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Her work was shown at the Library of Congress, the Print Club in Philadelphia, Silvermine in Connecticut, and the American Watercolor Society. A print was the cover of the Alumnae News of her alma mater, Connecticut College. Out of thousands of submissions, she was twice chosen to do a woodcut greeting card for UNICEF: Playtime, a multi image girl whirling around a street light, and Morning, three children cavorting in ocean waves. She illustrated six children's books, including two African folk tales commissioned by Scholastic Press: Why the Sky Is Far Away and Akimba and the Magic Cow.

          In 1973 much freckled Hopie was diagnosed with malignant melanoma. For two years she gradually declined, each month interrupted by weeks of devastating chemotherapy and recovery. Facing death and the anguish of leaving her children, she was a masterpiece of fortitude and fatalism, importantly powered by her life preserving drive to make art. She took a course in lithography. She did her second Scholastic book. Only months before her death in December 1975 the one thing she wanted to do--and did--was a painting trip to the divided French and Dutch Carribean island of St. Martin. One day very near her death she sat in her studio trying to draw, encouraged by two of her many friends, one holding her erect in her chair. Her artist sister Meredith once asked, "How can you do it? How are you doing all this?" Hopie answered, "The only thing I can think that makes any sense is that you build up some kind of platform for your children and leave behind you a body of work."
        View All _|_ View Available _|_ View Sold
        Coastal Scene with Rocks & Hills<br>1960s Woodcut<br><br>#8805
        Coastal Scene with Rocks & Hills
        1960s Woodcut

        #8805
        Hope Meryman Sold $885
        Sold
        <i>The Cock Fight</i><br>1963 Woodcut<br><br>#9095
        The Cock Fight
        1963 Woodcut

        #9095
        Hope Meryman $865
        <i>The Meadow</i><br>1968 Woodcut<br><br>#8798
        The Meadow
        1968 Woodcut

        #8798
        Hope Meryman Sold $875
        Sold
        <i>Susquehana Storm</i><br>1960 Woodcut<br><br>#8802
        Susquehana Storm
        1960 Woodcut

        #8802
        Hope Meryman Sold $975
        Sold
        <i>Dove</i><br>1960s Woodcut<br><br>#8562
        Dove
        1960s Woodcut

        #8562
        Hope Meryman Sold $965
        Sold
        <i>Boaters</i><br>1967 Woodcut<br><br>#8820
        Boaters
        1967 Woodcut

        #8820
        Hope Meryman Sold $675
        Sold
        At the Colliseum, Spain<br>1962 Woodcut<br><br>#8608
        At the Colliseum, Spain
        1962 Woodcut

        #8608
        Hope Meryman $975
        <i>The Early Skunk Cabbage</i><br>1960 Woodcut<br><br>#8616
        The Early Skunk Cabbage
        1960 Woodcut

        #8616
        Hope Meryman Sold $655
        Sold
        <i>Lazy Days</i><br>1968 Woodcut<br><br>#8799
        Lazy Days
        1968 Woodcut

        #8799
        Hope Meryman Sold $875
        Sold
        <i>Pollywog</i><br>1966 Woodcut<br><br>#8824
        Pollywog
        1966 Woodcut

        #8824
        Hope Meryman Sold $675
        Sold
        <i>Susquehanna IV</i><br>1967 Woodcut<br><br>#8823
        Susquehanna IV
        1967 Woodcut

        #8823
        Hope Meryman Sold $865
        Sold
        <i>Susquehanna Twilight</i><br>1966 Woodcut<br><br>#8819
        Susquehanna Twilight
        1966 Woodcut

        #8819
        Hope Meryman Sold $985
        Sold
        Willowy Trees Under Moonlight<br>1960s Woodcut<br><br>#8817
        Willowy Trees Under Moonlight
        1960s Woodcut

        #8817
        Hope Meryman Sold $1,795
        Sold
        <i>Tuscan Wall</i><br>1961 Woodcut<br><br>#8815
        Tuscan Wall
        1961 Woodcut

        #8815
        Hope Meryman Sold $865
        Sold
        <i>Lemon Pickers</i><br>1960s Woodcut<br><br>#8810
        Lemon Pickers
        1960s Woodcut

        #8810
        Hope Meryman Sold $1,595
        Sold
        Diners Under Umbrellas<br>1972 Woodcut<br><br>#8806
        Diners Under Umbrellas
        1972 Woodcut

        #8806
        Hope Meryman Sold $1,495
        Sold
        <i>The Wader</i><br>1969 Woodcut<br><br>#8804
        The Wader
        1969 Woodcut

        #8804
        Hope Meryman Sold $685
        Sold
        <i>Susquehanna Storm</i><br>1960s Woodcut<br><br>#8801
        Susquehanna Storm
        1960s Woodcut

        #8801
        Hope Meryman Sold $975
        Sold
        <i>Spanish Village</i><br>1962 Woodcut<br><br>#8793
        Spanish Village
        1962 Woodcut

        #8793
        Hope Meryman Sold $1,195
        Sold
        Paris Flower Market<br>1961 Woodcut<br><br>#8612
        Paris Flower Market
        1961 Woodcut

        #8612
        Hope Meryman Sold $685
        Sold
        <i>Nightfall - Kittery Point</i><br>1969 Woodcut<br><br>#8611
        Nightfall - Kittery Point
        1969 Woodcut

        #8611
        Hope Meryman Sold $875
        Sold
        <i>Basket Woman</i><br>1964 Woodcut<br><br>#8609
        Basket Woman
        1964 Woodcut

        #8609
        Hope Meryman Sold $1,295
        Sold
        Chef At A Bistro<br>1961 Woodcut<br><br>#8607
        Chef At A Bistro
        1961 Woodcut

        #8607
        Hope Meryman Sold $1,595
        Sold
        Monhegan Island, Main<br>1960s Woodcut<br><br>#8606
        Monhegan Island, Main
        1960s Woodcut

        #8606
        Hope Meryman Sold $985
        Sold
        <i>Burano</i><br>1969 Woodcut<br><br>#8605
        Burano
        1969 Woodcut

        #8605
        Hope Meryman Sold $985
        Sold
        <i>Etude IV</i><br>1960s Woodcut<br><br>#8603
        Etude IV
        1960s Woodcut

        #8603
        Hope Meryman Sold $865
        Sold
        <i>Rincon</i><br>1960s Woodcut<br><br>#8602
        Rincon
        1960s Woodcut

        #8602
        Hope Meryman Sold $975
        Sold
        <i>Summer Morning</i><br>1960s Woodcut<br><br>#8600
        Summer Morning
        1960s Woodcut

        #8600
        Hope Meryman Sold $1,595
        Sold
        <i>Dove</i><br>1960s Woodcut<br><br>#8595
        Dove
        1960s Woodcut

        #8595
        Hope Meryman Sold $925
        Sold
        Rolling Hills In Wind<br>1960s Woodcut<br><br>#8591
        Rolling Hills In Wind
        1960s Woodcut

        #8591
        Hope Meryman Sold $665
        Sold
        <i>The Fox And The Crow</i><br>1962 Woodcut<br><br>#8590
        The Fox And The Crow
        1962 Woodcut

        #8590
        Hope Meryman Sold $1,125
        Sold
        <i>Bahama Jockey</i><br>1962 Woodcut<br><br>#8584
        Bahama Jockey
        1962 Woodcut

        #8584
        Hope Meryman Sold $1,295
        Sold
        <i>Ballerina</i><br>1960s Woodcut<br><br>#8579
        Ballerina
        1960s Woodcut

        #8579
        Hope Meryman Sold $1,295
        Sold
        Hope Meryman Printmaking - Lost Art Salon
        Etude IV
        1960s Woodcut

        #8604
        Hope Meryman Sold $865
        Sold

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