Walter Hopp's 53-year career was marked by numerous and often overlapping collaborations, as well as his mentorship of younger professionals. Outcomes included the creation of a number of well-known cultural venues, exhibitions of modern and contemporary art, and notable museum and curatorial assignments: •
1952-1954: Concert Hall Workshop was co-founded by Hopps and Stanford classmate Jim Newman (founder of Dilexi Gallery in San Francisco) with
Craig Kauffman, among others, to present contemporary music (mostly jazz). Beginning with their acquaintance at Stanford, the working relationship of Hopps and Newman extended for several years (see Syndell Studio, below). •
1952-1955: Syndell Studio was co-founded by Hopps and Jim Newman, with the involvement of Ben and Betty Bartosh, Michael Scoles, Craig Kaufman and Shirley Neilsen (Dream Colony resource) to provide a venue for local artists.[6] Its final exhibition, Action 1: Concert Hall Workshop Presents Action Painting of the West Coast (better known as The Merry-Go-Round Show) was staged at the Santa Monica Pier using large tarpaulins and the pier’s merry-go-round structure (augmented by additional other) to install 100 paintings by forty artists. Mostly from San Francisco, exhibitors included
Sonia Gechtoff,
Richard Diebenkorn,
Mark Rothko,
Clyfford Still, Paul Sarkisian and
Jay De Feo.[6][7][8] •
1956: Studio Gallery begin in Hopps’ personal Brentwood studio with a schedule that included the first presentation of paintings by occultist
Marjorie Cameron; several of her paintings were destroyed by fire.[12] •
1957-1962: Ferus Gallery (1957-1966) was co-founded by Hopps and artist
Edward Kienholz (1957-1958), later joined by Irving Blum (1958-1966).[13] The exhibitions staged at Ferus' included Andy Warhol's first west coast exhibition (''32 Campbell's Soup Cans'') later bought in by Blum on Hopps’ advice (collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York).[14] Ferus went on to exhibit artists Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Frank Stella, and west coast artists including Ed Ruscha and others. •
1962-1974: Curator and then Director, Pasadena Art Museum (renamed Norton Simon Museum after 1974). Hopps’ exhibitions included the first retrospectives of Joseph Cornell and Marcel Duchamp, an expanded installation of the Museum of Modern Art’s Kurt Schwitters: A Retrospective Exhibition and Pop Art’s first museum survey (American Pop Art: New Painting of Common Objects). During this period Hopps was named the most “gifted museum man on the west coast” by the New York Times. •
1965: United States Commissioner, Sao Paulo Bienal. •
1967-1972: Director, Corcoran Gallery of Art (Washington Gallery of Modern Art until 1970). Hopps was terminated in 1972 due to his support for the museum staff’s effort to unionize. •
1972: United States Commissioner, Venice Biennale in 1972. •
1972 – 1979: Curator, 20th Century American Art at the Smithsonian’s National Collection of Fine Arts (NCFA), (National Museum of American Art after 1980). Hopps’ exhibitions included an exhaustive retrospective of Robert Rauschenberg as the museum’s Bicentennial presentation.[18] •
1973: Joseph Cornell Study Center (Smithsonian American Art Museum). The JCSC was established by Hopps and
Lynda Hartigan to preserve the artist’s work, studio material and archives. • '
1978: 36 Hours
at Washington DC’s Museum of Temporary Art (MOTA)' was staged to bring the institution, its exhibition space and its professional staff into direct interaction with its regional constituency of artists. 36 Hours called on them to submit any artwork of any kind within a 36 hour time frame (subject only to size limits). Hopps remained on site for the duration to perform the installation of the art (426 works were exhibited). •
1980: Director, Rice Museum, Institute for the Arts at Rice University, Houston, Texas. •
1979-1989: Director, Menil Collection, Houston, Texas. Initially serving as consultant to the museum, Hopps was named its founding director in 1980. His involvement ranged from assisting in the architectural process of creating the museum’s new building (designed by Renzo Piano) to overseeing the relocation of its collections, and establishing its collection and exhibition practice in collaboration with Dominique de Menil and others. •
1989: Adjunct Curator, Menil Collection. Hopps resigned as Director of the Menil in order to devote himself to independent curatorial work and collaborations. • '
1996: Kienholz: a Retrospective''''' was organized with Alberta Mayo for presentation at the Whitney Museum of American Art (NYC), the Museum of Contemporary Art (LA) and the Berlinische Galerie (Berlin). • '
1997-1999: Robert Rauschenberg: a Retrospective'''''
, organized with Susan Davidson, was presented at the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, the Guggenheim Museum Soho, and the Guggenheim Museum at Ace Gallery (simultaneously); the Menil Collection, the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston (simultaneously); the Museum Ludwig (Koln); and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. •
2001: Senior Curator, Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, concurrent with his adjunct position at Menil. • '
2003-2005: James Rosenquist: a Retrospective''''', organized with Sarah Bancroft, was presented at the Menil Collection and Museum of Fine Arts Houston (simultaneously), the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (NY), the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, and The Kunstmuseum, Wolfsburg (DE). ==Mentorship==