6 museomag   02 ‘ 2016 
“velasQueZ‘s paintings: 
i have no idea hoW he did it...“ 
h. craig hanna’s first large museum exhibition is currently on display 
until June 26 
After acquiring in 2015 “Arrangement of Dancers”, 
a majestic painting of the Amercian artist H. Craig 
Hanna, the Musée national d’histoire et d’art 
exhibits more than fifty of his works (2007- 
2014). This is the first large museum exhibition 
dedicated to his œuvre. Thematic interview. 
landscapes 
You rarely represent landscapes, but when you do so, 
they are very intense. How do you explain it? 
Inbetween doing the figure paintings - there’s a certain 
labor involved that is exhausting -, I like to meditate 
on a landscape. In order to fall in love with painting 
again. Landscape is like a meditative break to me. 
Landscapes are more free, more spontaneous, not so 
thought out. Corot, Constable, Menzel are painters 
who brought landscape to a very high level. They’re like 
the Rembrandt and Velasquez of landscape paintings. 
It’s a challenge to reach those heights. Sometimes 
when I’m walking in a field or a wood, I can see what 
a great landscape painting it would be. Too beautiful 
to mean nothing. So I need to make it permanent. 
sKetchbooKs 
In one of your sketchbooks you write: “Each 
painting has to portray one of the elements of the 
human condition, boredom – loneliness – laughter - 
confusion”. Is this also true for the portraits on display 
at the MNHA? 
When someone sits for you and poses, it’s an 
accumulation of many hours of observation. The 
model experiences hundreds of emotions while they’re 
posing. It’s a possibility that some of the emotions 
come out. Someone once said: ‘A photograph captures 
a moment in time. A painting is time.’ 
Another quotation from your sketchbook says that 
“decide from the beginning that you will die and 
investigate what is worthwhile…eating, drinking and 
talking about war, romance and gossip or predict it…I 
don’t try and see into future I feel the future”. Please 
elaborate! 
The quote just kind of says it all! 
beauty 
“Beauty is not an opinion, it’s a reaction”. How is this 
reflected in your art? 
True beauty in music, in poetry, in writing: when it’s 
good, it touches a nerve in everyone. This is something 
that all humans feel. Like the sun on your face, everyone 
can feel it. You should never read the plaque in order to 
appreciate the painting. 
© 
éric 
chenal 
“When someone sits for you and poses, it’s a possibility that some of the emotions come out.”