On cloud nine: Realtor offers space for Ward Hooper’s watercolors to find new homes

Earlier this week, Northport Village resident Mary Dolan took a trip to frame some artwork she had purchased over the weekend. She had with her four Ward Hooper watercolors she selected from an exhibit and sale of the prolific Northport artist’s work, beautifully displayed at RB Homes Realty on the weekend of April 12 and 13. 

Behind her at the counter was another woman, also there to frame her Ward Hooper watercolor. As the women talked about the coincidence, a third woman joined in the conversation, saying how sad she was to have missed the event. 

Hosted by local realtors Arbi and Tiffany Asadourian of RB Homes Realty in Northport Village, the exhibit and sale that spontaneously brought the three women together featured hundreds of Hooper's watercolors, pieces of art that will now live on in homes all over Northport, connecting a whole new audience and generation to the 95-year-old’s passion and talent. 

The first night of the exhibit was filled with Hooper’s friends, his family, and locals from all over Northport and the surrounding areas. The watercolors, some matted and framed, others displayed in racks, drew constant traffic, with visitors to the sale flipping through artwork depicting subjects ranging from vistas of Northport Village – the docks and harbor taking center stage – as well as scenic watercolors of all seasons along the north shore, in New York City and upstate New York, plus still lives of floral arrangements, fruit and even fishing tackle.

Arbi estimates about 100 people visited that evening. As part of his and Tiffany’s marketing efforts prior to the show, News12 was contacted. A media team visited on Friday to create a piece on Hooper and the event that aired the following morning. 

“The second night was something else,” Arbi said. A couple hundred people came to the show, with some traveling from as far as Shelter Island, to not only meet the artist but to find the perfect piece of Ward Hooper artwork to call their own. A line of people formed to meet Ward, many asking the story behind the pieces they selected. Hooper responded in detail, Arbi said, recalling when he sketched the painting, where he was and sometimes even how he felt at the time. Some paintings had notes on the back, too: Sunday, October 12, 1997. At Asharoken Pond with Joan and Shirley. Bright sunny day, warm in the 70s, trees just turning color. Like this one.

A client turned friend...
Last month, Arbi listed Hooper’s historic home on Nautilus Avenue in the Village. The 1890s carriage house, once part of the Cockcroft estate and home to the infamous 1920s New York City Mayor James Walker, was converted into a single family home in the 1960s. Ward and his late wife Dolly moved into the home in 1969. 

The home drew a record turnout on its first open house weekend in early March. With an official sale of the house set for early June, Hooper plans on moving to Ithaca to be with his daughter, Emily.

“When I first met Ward and his family at the house, I asked him what he was planning to do with all these stacks and stacks of watercolors, so many gorgeous paintings stacked high in the living room,” Arbi told the Journal. 

Hooper said he didn't know. Maybe store them away before the open house? 

While many of the artist’s watercolors are in private and corporate collections throughout the United States, hundreds were stored or displayed in his home.

“Tiffany and I always wanted to have some sort of gallery night at the office so I asked Ward if he wanted to display them at RB Homes Realty and he loved the idea,” Arbi continued. “Well once he said yes, Tiffany and I went to work marketing the two-night event. Everyone online loved the idea and was looking forward to it.”

A few days before opening night, Hooper came, with help, to hang up his paintings. Being in the room gave Arbi a glimpse of the design director (a position he held in his “other life,”) in Hooper. “He had specific instructions of where each painting would go – grouped by colors or themes or locations. It was really interesting to watch,” Arbi said.  

Arbi and Hooper had a little recap after each night of the event. It’s evident, when listening to Arbi, that he and Hooper talk with ease, and truly enjoy each other’s company. It’s a bond – a clicking of sorts – that permeated the event itself, spreading to and connecting all the people there to share in the spirit of Ward’s work, and the community he’s called home for most of his life. 

Arbi and Hooper spent some time together again yesterday, at the Nautilus Avenue home, talking about the last week. 

“He is still on cloud nine and can't believe the turnout and how well it all went,” Arbi said. “I too shared the same joy because I've grown to think of him more as a dear friend than a client. His family is amazing and they welcomed me and Tiffany into their home and shared their art with us, and allowed us to provide them a space to share it once again with the community. It was simply perfect for everyone: Ward, Tiff and I, the current fans of Ward and hundreds of new ones who all now have an original Ward Hooper hanging in their homes.”