THE THEORY BOOKS

The work behind the pictures.

Since 1995, Tommy Hoppe has filled forty-nine handwritten books — about ten thousand pages of drawings, measurements, color systems, and notes. These books are the working record behind CR1, an original method created by Tommy Hoppe for color and music. CR1 is being introduced publicly through a continuing series of recorded lectures. The finished drawings grow out of these pages. And the pages hold clues about a house, and the people in it.

WHY THE PAGES MATTER

The image is one part of the work. The logic behind it is another.

Each page is a working part of the same world as the finished drawings. They contain structures, measurements, correspondences, false starts, and the private logic that makes the images legible.

No single collector receives the whole explanation. The larger story can only be reconstructed when owners compare what they hold, identify connections, and decide what to disclose.

FROM THE BOOKS

Every page is drawn and written by hand.

Page from the handwritten theory archive of Tommy Hoppe — THEORY ARCHIVE · PAGE 1

WHEN A PAGE JOINS AN EDITION

Some prints carry an original page with them.

In the current Stradivarius edition, prints 4, 7, 10, and 12 each include one original page. Four things are true of every page that travels with a print:

01The front is visible.You see one side of the page before choosing.

02The reverse is withheld.You discover the other side only after the page reaches you.

03The sequence is missing.The book number, neighboring pages, and original order are not supplied.

04Disclosure is yours.Keep the reverse private, or let it enter the record everyone can see.

IN THE CURRENT EDITION

The front is evidence. The back is the mystery.

Click a front to examine it.

Front of Cubist Female, an original theory page by Tommy Hoppe — PRINT 4 · FRONTCubist FemaleREVERSE WITHHELD

Front of The Vertebral Column, an original theory page by Tommy Hoppe — PRINT 7 · FRONTThe Vertebral ColumnREVERSE WITHHELD

Front of M.U.S.T.A.R.D.S Hat, an original theory page by Tommy Hoppe, dated November 17 1996 — PRINT 10 · FRONTM.U.S.T.A.R.D.’S HatREVERSE WITHHELD

Front of Euphronios Krater, an original theory page by Tommy Hoppe — PRINT 12 · FRONTEuphronios KraterREVERSE WITHHELD

THE OBJECT

Each theory page is a unique, two-sided original measuring 8.25 inches high by 5.5 inches wide. Pencil and pen on paper. Unframed and intentionally raw. It ships with the print it accompanies.

CHOOSE A STAIR

Take the stair that carries the page you want.

Every stair includes the signed Stradivarius print. The landing, print 13, carries Susan No. 1 instead.

See every available print How the edition works