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Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967) was an American realist painter and
printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proce ...
. While he is widely known for his oil paintings, he was equally proficient as a watercolorist and printmaker in
etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...
. Hopper created subdued drama out of commonplace subjects 'layered with a poetic meaning', inviting narrative interpretations. He was praised for "complete verity" in the America he portrayed. His career benefited significantly from his marriage to fellow-artist Josephine Nivison, who contributed much to his work, both as a life-model and as a creative partner.


Biography


Early life

Hopper was born in 1882 in Nyack, New York, a yacht-building center on the
Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...
north of New York City. He was one of two children of a comfortably well-off family. His parents, of mostly Dutch ancestry, were Elizabeth Griffiths Smith and Garret Henry Hopper, a dry-goods merchant.Levin, Gail, ''Edward Hopper: An Intimate Biography'', Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1995, p.11, Although not as successful as his forebears, Garrett provided well for his two children with considerable help from his wife's inheritance. He retired at age forty-nine. Edward and his sister, Marion, attended both private and public schools. They were raised in a strict
Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul c ...
home. His father had a mild nature, and the household was dominated by women: Hopper's mother, grandmother, sister, and maid. His birthplace and boyhood home was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 2000. It is now operated as the Edward Hopper House Art Center, serving as a nonprofit community cultural center featuring exhibitions, workshops, lectures, performances, and special events. Hopper was a good student in grade school, and, by the time he was five, his talent with drawing was already apparent. He readily absorbed his father's intellectual tendencies and love of
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
and Russian cultures. He also demonstrated his mother's artistic heritage. Hopper's parents encouraged his art and kept him amply supplied with materials, instructional magazines, and illustrated books. Hopper first began signing and dating his drawings at the age of 10. Among the earliest of these drawings are charcoal sketches of geometric shapes, a vase, bowl, cup, and boxes.Levin 1995, p. 16-18 The detailed examination of light and shadow that continued throughout his career is already visible in these early works. By his teens, he was working in pen-and-ink, charcoal, watercolor, and oil—drawing from nature while also making political cartoons. In 1895, he created his first signed oil painting, ''Rowboat in Rocky Cove'', which he copied from a reproduction in ''The Art Interchange'', a popular journal for amateur artists. Hopper's other earliest oils, such as ''Old ice pond at Nyack'' and his c.1898 painting ''Ships,'' have been identified as copies of paintings by artists including Bruce Crane and Edward Moran. In his early self-portraits, Hopper tended to represent himself as skinny, ungraceful, and homely. Though a tall and quiet teenager, his prankish sense of humor found outlet in his art, sometimes in depictions of immigrants or of women dominating men in comical situations. Later in life, he mostly depicted women as the figures in his paintings. In high school (he graduated from Nyack High School in 1899), he dreamed of becoming a
naval architect This is the top category for all articles related to architecture and its practitioners. {{Commons category, Architecture occupations Design occupations Occupations ...
, but after graduation declared his intention to pursue a career in art. Hopper's parents insisted that he study commercial art to have a reliable means of income.Maker 1990, p. 8 In developing his self-image and individualistic philosophy of life, Hopper was influenced by the writings of
Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a cham ...
. He later said, "I admire him greatly...I read him over and over again." Hopper began art studies with a correspondence course in 1899. Soon he transferred to the New York School of Art and Design, the forerunner of
Parsons School of Design Parsons School of Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhatt ...
. There, he studied for six years with teachers including
William Merritt Chase William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849October 25, 1916) was an American painter, known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons School of Design. ...
, who instructed him in oil painting. Early on, Hopper modeled his style after Chase and French Impressionist masters
Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Bor ...
and
Edgar Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionism, Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, Printmaking, prints ...
. Sketching from live models, however, proved challenging and somewhat shocking for the conservatively raised Hopper. Another of his teachers, artist Robert Henri, taught life class. Henri encouraged his students to use their art to "make a stir in the world." He also advised his students, "It isn't the subject that counts but what you feel about it" and "Forget about art and paint pictures of what interests you in life." In this manner, Henri influenced Hopper, as well as future artists
George Bellows George Wesley Bellows (August 12 or August 19, 1882 – January 8, 1925) was an American realist painter, known for his bold depictions of urban life in New York City. He became, according to the Columbus Museum of Art, "the most acclaimed Ame ...
and Rockwell Kent. He encouraged them to imbue their work with a modern spirit. Some artists in Henri's circle, including
John Sloan John French Sloan (August 2, 1871 – September 7, 1951) was an American painter and etcher. He is considered to be one of the founders of the Ashcan school of American art. He was also a member of the group known as The Eight. He is best known ...
, became members of "The Eight", also known as the
Ashcan School The Ashcan School, also called the Ash Can School, was an artistic movement in the United States during the late 19th-early 20th century that produced works portraying scenes of daily life in New York, often in the city's poorer neighborhoods. ...
of
American Art Visual art of the United States or American art is visual art made in the United States or by U.S. artists. Before colonization there were many flourishing traditions of Native American art, and where the Spanish colonized Spanish Colonial arc ...
.Maker 1990, p. 9 Hopper's first surviving oil painting to hint at his use of interiors as a theme was ''Solitary Figure in a Theater'' (c.1904). During his student years, he also painted dozens of nudes, still life studies, landscapes, and portraits, including self-portraits. In 1905, Hopper landed a part-time job with an advertising agency, where he created cover designs for trade magazines. Hopper came to detest illustration. He was bound to it by economic necessity until the mid-1920s. He temporarily escaped by making three trips to Europe, each centered in Paris, ostensibly to study its art scene. In fact, he studied alone and seemed mostly unaffected by the new currents in art. Later, he said he didn't "remember hearing of
Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
at all". He was highly impressed by
Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally cons ...
, particularly his ''
Night Watch Night Watch or Nightwatch may refer to: Books * ''The Night Watch'', a 1977 memoir by Central Intelligence Agency officer David Atlee Phillips Novels * ''Night Watch'', a 1972 novel by American screenwriter Lucille Fletcher * ''Night Watch'', a 1 ...
'', which he said was "the most wonderful thing of his I have seen; it's past belief in its reality." Hopper began painting urban and architectural scenes in a dark palette. Then he shifted to the lighter shades of the
Impressionists Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...
before returning to the darker palette, with which he was most comfortable. He later said, "I got over that and later things done in Paris were more the kind of things I do now." Hopper spent much of his time drawing street and café scenes, and going to the theater and opera. Unlike many of his contemporaries who imitated the abstract
cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...
experiments, Hopper was attracted to
realist art Realism in the arts is generally the attempt to represent subject matter truthfully, without artificiality and avoiding speculative and supernatural elements. The term is often used interchangeably with naturalism, although these terms are no ...
. Later, he admitted to no European influences other than French engraver
Charles Meryon Charles Meryon (sometimes Méryon, 23 November 1821 – 14 February 1868) was a French artist who worked almost entirely in etching, as he had colour blindness. Although now little-known in the English-speaking world, he is generally recognised ...
, whose moody Paris scenes Hopper imitated.


Years of struggle

After returning from his last European trip, Hopper rented a studio in New York City, where he struggled to define his own style. Reluctantly, he returned to illustration to support himself. Being a freelancer, Hopper was forced to solicit for projects, and had to knock on the doors of magazine and agency offices to find business. His painting languished: "it's hard for me to decide what I want to paint. I go for months without finding it sometimes. It comes slowly."Levin 1995, p. 88 His fellow illustrator Walter Tittle described Hopper's depressed emotional state in sharper terms, seeing his friend "suffering...from long periods of unconquerable inertia, sitting for days at a time before his easel in helpless unhappiness, unable to raise a hand to break the spell." In 1912 (February 22 to March 5) he was included in the exhibition of The Independents a group of artists at the initiative of Robert Henri but did not make any sales. In 1912, Hopper traveled to
Gloucester, Massachusetts Gloucester () is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It sits on Cape Ann and is a part of Massachusetts's North Shore. The population was 29,729 at the 2020 U.S. Census. An important center of the fishing industry and a ...
, to seek some inspiration and made his first outdoor paintings in America. He painted ''Squam Light'', the first of many lighthouse paintings to come. In 1913, at the
Armory Show The 1913 Armory Show, also known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art, was a show organized by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors in 1913. It was the first large exhibition of modern art in America, as well as one of ...
, Hopper earned $250 when he sold his first painting, ''Sailing'' (1911), to an American businessman Thomas F Vietor, which he had painted over an earlier self-portrait. Hopper was thirty-one, and although he hoped his first sale would lead to others in short order, his career would not catch on for many more years. He continued to participate in group exhibitions at smaller venues, such as the MacDowell Club of New York. Shortly after his father's death that same year, Hopper moved to the 3 Washington Square North apartment in the
Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
section of
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, where he would live for the rest of his life. The following year he received a commission to create some movie posters and handle publicity for a movie company. Although he did not like the illustration work, Hopper was a lifelong devotee of the cinema and the theatre, both of which he treated as subjects for his paintings. Each form influenced his compositional methods. At an impasse over his oil paintings, in 1915 Hopper turned to etching. By 1923 he had produced most of his approximately 70 works in this medium, many of urban scenes of both Paris and New York. He also produced some posters for the war effort, as well as continuing with occasional commercial projects.Levin 1995, p. 120 When he could, Hopper did some outdoor oil paintings on visits to New England, especially at the art colonies at Ogunquit, and Monhegan Island. During the early 1920s his etchings began to receive public recognition. They expressed some of his later themes, as in ''Night on the El Train'' (couples in silence), ''Evening Wind'' (solitary female), and ''The Catboat'' (simple nautical scene). Two notable oil paintings of this time were ''New York Interior'' (1921) and ''New York Restaurant'' (1922). He also painted two of his many "window" paintings to come: '' Girl at Sewing Machine'' and ''Moonlight Interior'', both of which show a figure (clothed or nude) near a window of an apartment viewed as gazing out or from the point of view from the outside looking in. Although these were frustrating years, Hopper gained some recognition. In 1918, Hopper was awarded the U.S. Shipping Board Prize for his war poster, "Smash the Hun". He participated in three exhibitions: in 1917 with the Society of Independent Artists, in January 1920 (a one-man exhibition at the Whitney Studio Club, which was the precursor to the Whitney Museum), and in 1922 (again with the Whitney Studio Club). In 1923, Hopper received two awards for his etchings: the Logan Prize from the
Chicago Society of Etchers Chicago Society of Etchers was founded in January 1910, the first organization of etchers in the country. There were 20 members to start and by 1930 there were 150 members. Membership extended outside of the United States, including artists from En ...
, and the W. A. Bryan Prize.


Marriage and breakthrough

By 1923, Hopper's slow climb finally produced a breakthrough. He re-encountered Josephine Nivison, an artist and former student of Robert Henri, during a summer painting trip in Gloucester, Massachusetts. They were opposites: she was short, open, gregarious, sociable, and liberal, while he was tall, secretive, shy, quiet, introspective, and conservative. They married a year later with artist
Guy Pene du Bois Guy or GUY may refer to: Personal names * Guy (given name) * Guy (surname) * That Guy (...), the New Zealand street performer Leigh Hart Places * Guy, Alberta, a Canadian hamlet * Guy, Arkansas, US, a city * Guy, Indiana, US, an uninc ...
as their best man. She remarked: "Sometimes talking to Eddie is just like dropping a stone in a well, except that it doesn't thump when it hits bottom."Maker 1990, p. 16 She subordinated her career to his and shared his reclusive life style. The rest of their lives revolved around their spare walk-up apartment in the city and their summers in South Truro on
Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...
. She managed his career and his interviews, was his primary model, and was his life companion. With Nivison's help, six of Hopper's Gloucester watercolors were admitted to an exhibit at the
Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Cro ...
in 1923. One of them, ''The Mansard Roof'', was purchased by the museum for its permanent collection for the sum of $100.Levin 1995, p. 171 The critics generally raved about his work; one stated, "What vitality, force and directness! Observe what can be done with the homeliest subject." Hopper sold all his watercolors at a one-man show the following year and finally decided to put illustration behind him. The artist had demonstrated his ability to transfer his attraction to Parisian architecture to American urban and rural architecture. According to
Boston Museum of Fine Arts The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...
curator Carol Troyen, "Hopper really liked the way these houses, with their
turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * M ...
s and
tower A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specific ...
s and
porch A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...
es and
mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. Th ...
s and ornament cast wonderful shadows. Hopper always said that his favorite thing was painting sunlight on the side of a house."
Hopper's Gloucester
', Andrea Shea,
WBUR WBUR-FM (90.9 FM) is a public radio station located in Boston, Massachusetts, owned by Boston University. It is the largest of three NPR member stations in Boston, along with WGBH and WUMB-FM and produces several nationally distributed program ...
, July 6, 2007.
At forty-one, Hopper received further recognition for his work. He continued to harbor bitterness about his career, later turning down appearances and awards. With his financial stability secured by steady sales, Hopper would live a simple, stable life and continue creating art in his personal style for four more decades. His ''Two on the Aisle'' (1927) sold for a personal record $1,500, enabling Hopper to purchase an automobile, which he used to make field trips to remote areas of New England.Wagstaff 2004, p. 230 In 1929, he produced ''
Chop Suey Chop suey () is a dish in American Chinese cuisine and other forms of overseas Chinese cuisine, consisting of meat (usually chicken, pork, beef, shrimp or fish) and eggs, cooked quickly with vegetables such as bean sprouts, cabbage, and celery a ...
'' and ''Railroad Sunset''. The following year, art patron Stephen Clark donated '' House by the Railroad'' (1925) to the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...
, the first oil painting that it acquired for its collection. Hopper painted his last self-portrait in oil around 1930. Although Josephine posed for many of his paintings, she sat for only one formal oil portrait by her husband, ''Jo Painting'' (1936). Hopper fared better than many other artists during the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. His stature took a sharp rise in 1931 when major museums, including the
Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...
and the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, paid thousands of dollars for his works. He sold 30 paintings that year, including 13 watercolors. The following year he participated in the first Whitney Annual, and he continued to exhibit in every annual at the museum for the rest of his life. In 1933, the Museum of Modern Art gave Hopper his first large-scale retrospective.Maker 1990, p. 17 In 1930, the Hoppers rented a cottage in South Truro, on Cape Cod. They returned every summer for the rest of their lives, building a summer house there in 1934. From there, they would take driving trips into other areas when Hopper needed to search for fresh material to paint. In the summers of 1937 and 1938, the couple spent extended sojourns on Wagon Wheels Farm in
South Royalton, Vermont South Royalton is an unincorporated village and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Royalton, Windsor County, Vermont, United States. With a population at the 2010 census of 694, South Royalton is the largest community in the town. It ...
, where Hopper painted a series of watercolors along the White River. These scenes are atypical among Hopper's mature works, as most are "pure" landscapes, devoid of architecture or human figures. ''First Branch of the White River'' (1938), now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is the best-known of Hopper's Vermont landscapes.Clause 2012 Hopper was very productive through the 1930s and early 1940s, producing among many important works '' New York Movie'' (1939), ''Girlie Show'' (1941), '' Nighthawks'' (1942), ''
Hotel Lobby ''Hotel Lobby'' is a 1943 oil painting on canvas by American realist painter Edward Hopper; it is held in the collection of the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA), in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Description The painting depicts two wom ...
'' (1943), and ''Morning in a City'' (1944). During the late 1940s, however, he suffered a period of relative inactivity. He admitted: "I wish I could paint more. I get sick of reading and going to the movies."Wagstaff 2004, p. 232 During the next two decades, his health faltered, and he had several prostate surgeries and other medical problems. But, in the 1950s and early 1960s, he created several more major works, including ''First Row Orchestra'' (1951); as well as ''Morning Sun'' and '' Hotel by a Railroad'', both in 1952; and ''Intermission'' in 1963. In 1966, Hopper was awarded The
Edward MacDowell Medal The Edward MacDowell Medal is an award which has been given since 1960 to one person annually who has made an outstanding contribution to American culture and the arts. It is given by MacDowell, the first artist residency program in the United Sta ...
by
The MacDowell Colony MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire, United States, founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDowell ...
for outstanding contributions to American culture.


Death

Hopper died of natural causes in his studio near Washington Square in New York City on May 15, 1967. He was buried two days later in the family plot at Oak Hill Cemetery in Nyack, New York, his place of birth. His wife died ten months later and is buried with him. His wife bequeathed their joint collection of more than three thousand works to the Whitney Museum of American Art. Papers and drawings in the Hopper home passed into the keeping of family friend Arthayer Sanborn. Other significant paintings by Hopper are held by the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...
in New York, The Des Moines Art Center, and the
Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...
.


Art


Personality and vision

Always reluctant to discuss himself and his art, Hopper simply said, "The whole answer is there on the canvas." Hopper was stoic and fatalistic—a quiet introverted man with a gentle sense of humor and a frank manner. Hopper was someone drawn to an emblematic, anti-narrative symbolism, who "painted short isolated moments of configuration, saturated with suggestion". His silent spaces and uneasy encounters "touch us where we are most vulnerable", and have "a suggestion of melancholy, that melancholy being enacted". His sense of color revealed him as a pure painter as he "turned the
Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...
into the purist, in his quiet canvasses where blemishes and blessings balance". According to critic Lloyd Goodrich, he was "an eminently native painter, who more than any other was getting more of the quality of America into his canvases". Conservative in politics and social matters (Hopper asserted for example that "artists' lives should be written by people very close to them"), he accepted things as they were and displayed a lack of idealism. Cultured and sophisticated, he was well-read, and many of his paintings show figures reading. He was generally good company and unperturbed by silences, though sometimes taciturn, grumpy, or detached. He was always serious about his art and the art of others, and when asked would return frank opinions. Hopper's most systematic declaration of his philosophy as an artist was given in a handwritten note, titled "Statement", submitted in 1953 to the journal ''Reality'':
Great art is the outward expression of an inner life in the artist, and this inner life will result in his personal vision of the world. No amount of skillful invention can replace the essential element of imagination. One of the weaknesses of much abstract painting is the attempt to substitute the inventions of the human intellect for a private imaginative conception. The inner life of a human being is a vast and varied realm and does not concern itself alone with stimulating arrangements of color, form and design. The term life used in art is something not to be held in contempt, for it implies all of existence and the province of art is to react to it and not to shun it. Painting will have to deal more fully and less obliquely with life and nature's phenomena before it can again become great.
Though Hopper claimed that he didn't consciously embed psychological meaning in his paintings, he was deeply interested in
Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts i ...
and the power of the subconscious mind. He wrote in 1939, "So much of every art is an expression of the subconscious that it seems to me most of all the important qualities are put there unconsciously, and little of importance by the conscious intellect."


Methods

Although he is best known for his oil paintings, Hopper initially achieved recognition for his watercolors and he also produced some commercially successful etchings. Additionally, his notebooks contain high-quality pen and pencil sketches, which were never meant for public viewing. Hopper paid particular attention to geometrical design and the careful placement of human figures in proper balance with their environment. He was a slow and methodical artist; as he wrote, "It takes a long time for an idea to strike. Then I have to think about it for a long time. I don't start painting until I have it all worked out in my mind. I'm all right when I get to the easel". He often made preparatory sketches to work out his carefully calculated compositions. He and his wife kept a detailed ledger of their works noting such items as "sad face of woman unlit", "electric light from ceiling", and "thighs cooler". For ''New York Movie'' (1939), Hopper demonstrates his thorough preparation with more than 53 sketches of the theater interior and the figure of the pensive usherette. The effective use of light and shadow to create mood also is central to Hopper's methods. Bright sunlight (as an emblem of insight or revelation), and the shadows it casts, also play symbolically powerful roles in Hopper paintings such as '' Early Sunday Morning'' (1930), ''Summertime'' (1943), ''Seven A.M.'' (1948), and ''Sun in an Empty Room'' (1963). His use of light and shadow effects have been compared to the cinematography of ''
film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American '' ...
''. Although a realist painter, Hopper's "soft" realism simplified shapes and details. He used saturated color to heighten contrast and create mood.


Subjects and themes

Hopper derived his subject matter from two primary sources: one, the common features of American life (gas stations, motels, restaurants, theaters, railroads, and street scenes) and its inhabitants; and two, seascapes and rural landscapes. Regarding his style, Hopper defined himself as "an amalgam of many races" and not a member of any school, particularly the "
Ashcan School The Ashcan School, also called the Ash Can School, was an artistic movement in the United States during the late 19th-early 20th century that produced works portraying scenes of daily life in New York, often in the city's poorer neighborhoods. ...
".Wagstaff 2004, p. 13 Once Hopper achieved his mature style, his art remained consistent and self-contained, in spite of the numerous art trends that came and went during his long career. Hopper's seascapes fall into three main groups: pure landscapes of rocks, sea, and beach grass; lighthouses and farmhouses; and sailboats. Sometimes he combined these elements. Most of these paintings depict strong light and fair weather; he showed little interest in snow or rain scenes, or in seasonal color changes. He painted the majority of the pure seascapes in the period between 1916 and 1919 on Monhegan Island. Hopper's ''The Long Leg'' (1935) is a nearly all-blue sailing picture with the simplest of elements, while his '' Ground Swell'' (1939) is more complex and depicts a group of youngsters out for a sail, a theme reminiscent of
Winslow Homer Winslow Homer (February 24, 1836 – September 29, 1910) was an American landscape painter and illustrator, best known for his marine subjects. He is considered one of the foremost painters in 19th-century America and a preeminent figure in ...
's iconic ''Breezing Up'' (1876). Urban architecture and cityscapes also were major subjects for Hopper. He was fascinated with the American urban scene, "our native architecture with its hideous beauty, its fantastic roofs, pseudo-gothic, French
Mansard A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The ...
, Colonial, mongrel or what not, with eye-searing color or delicate harmonies of faded paint, shouldering one another along interminable streets that taper off into swamps or dump heaps." In 1925, he produced ''House by the Railroad''. This classic work depicts an isolated Victorian wood mansion, partly obscured by the raised embankment of a railroad. It marked Hopper's artistic maturity. Lloyd Goodrich praised the work as "one of the most poignant and desolating pieces of realism." The work is the first of a series of stark rural and urban scenes that uses sharp lines and large shapes, played upon by unusual lighting to capture the lonely mood of his subjects. Although critics and viewers interpret meaning and mood in these cityscapes, Hopper insisted "I was more interested in the sunlight on the buildings and on the figures than any symbolism."Wagstaff 2004, p. 12 As if to prove the point, his late painting ''Sun in an Empty Room'' (1963) is a pure study of sunlight. Most of Hopper's figure paintings focus on the subtle interaction of human beings with their environment—carried out with solo figures, couples, or groups. His primary emotional themes are solitude, loneliness, regret, boredom, and resignation. He expresses the emotions in various environments, including the office, in public places, in apartments, on the road, or on vacation. As if he were creating stills for a movie or tableaux in a play, Hopper positioned his characters as if they were captured just before or just after the climax of a scene. Hopper's solitary figures are mostly women—dressed, semi-clad, and nude—often reading or looking out a window, or in the workplace. In the early 1920s, Hopper painted his first such images ''Girl at Sewing Machine'' (1921), ''New York Interior'' (another woman sewing) (1921), and ''Moonlight Interior'' (a nude getting into bed) (1923). ''Automat'' (1927) and ''Hotel Room'' (1931), however, are more representative of his mature style, emphasizing the solitude more overtly. As Hopper scholar, Gail Levin, wrote of ''Hotel Room'':
The spare vertical and diagonal bands of color and sharp electric shadows create a concise and intense drama in the night...Combining poignant subject matter with such a powerful formal arrangement, Hopper's composition is pure enough to approach an almost abstract sensibility, yet layered with a poetic meaning for the observer.
Hopper's ''Room in New York'' (1932) and ''Cape Cod Evening'' (1939) are prime examples of his "couple" paintings. In the first, a young couple appear alienated and uncommunicative—he reading the newspaper while she idles by the piano. The viewer takes on the role of a voyeur, as if looking with a telescope through the window of the apartment to spy on the couple's lack of intimacy. In the latter painting, an older couple with little to say to each other, are playing with their dog, whose own attention is drawn away from his masters.Levin 2001, p. 220, 264 Hopper takes the couple theme to a more ambitious level with ''Excursion into Philosophy '' (1959). A middle-aged man sits dejectedly on the edge of a bed. Beside him lies an open book and a partially clad woman. A shaft of light illuminates the floor in front of him. Jo Hopper noted in their log book, " e open book is
Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
, reread too late". Levin interprets the painting:
Plato's philosopher, in search of the real and the true, must turn away from this transitory realm and contemplate the eternal Forms and Ideas. The pensive man in Hopper's painting is positioned between the lure of the earthly domain, figured by the woman, and the call of the higher spiritual domain, represented by the ethereal lightfall. The pain of thinking about this choice and its consequences, after reading Plato all night, is evident. He is paralysed by the fervent inner labour of the melancholic.
In '' Office at Night'' (1940), another "couple" painting, Hopper creates a psychological puzzle. The painting shows a man focusing on his work papers, while nearby his attractive female secretary pulls a file. Several studies for the painting show how Hopper experimented with the positioning of the two figures, perhaps to heighten the
eroticism Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, ...
and the tension. Hopper presents the viewer with the possibilities that the man is either truly uninterested in the woman's appeal or that he is working hard to ignore her. Another interesting aspect of the painting is how Hopper employs three light sources, from a desk lamp, through a window and indirect light from above. Hopper went on to make several "office" pictures, but no others with a sensual undercurrent. The best-known of Hopper's paintings, '' Nighthawks'' (1942), is one of his paintings of groups. It shows customers sitting at the counter of an all-night diner. The shapes and diagonals are carefully constructed. The viewpoint is cinematic—from the sidewalk, as if the viewer were approaching the restaurant. The diner's harsh electric light sets it apart from the dark night outside, enhancing the mood and subtle emotion. As in many Hopper paintings, the interaction is minimal. The restaurant depicted was inspired by one in Greenwich Village. Both Hopper and his wife posed for the figures, and Jo Hopper gave the painting its title. The inspiration for the picture may have come from
Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...
's short story "
The Killers The Killers are an American rock band formed in Las Vegas in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After going through a number of short-term bass players and drummers in t ...
", which Hopper greatly admired, or from the more philosophical "
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" is a short story by American author Ernest Hemingway, first published in ''Scribner's Magazine'' in 1933; it was also included in his collection '' Winner Take Nothing'' (1933). Plot synopsis Late at night, a deaf o ...
". The mood of the painting has sometimes been interpreted as an expression of wartime anxiety. In keeping with the title of his painting, Hopper later said, ''Nighthawks'' has more to do with the possibility of predators in the night than with loneliness. His second most recognizable painting after ''Nighthawks'' is another urban painting, '' Early Sunday Morning'' (originally called ''Seventh Avenue Shops''), which shows an empty street scene in sharp side light, with a fire hydrant and a
barber pole A barber's pole is a type of sign used by barbers to signify the place or shop where they perform their craft. The trade sign is, by a tradition dating back to the Middle Ages, a staff or pole with a helix of colored stripes (often red and ...
as stand-ins for human figures. Originally Hopper intended to put figures in the upstairs windows but left them empty to heighten the feeling of desolation. Hopper's rural
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
scenes, such as '' Gas'' (1940), are no less meaningful. ''Gas'' represents "a different, equally clean, well-lighted refuge ... ke topen for those in need as they navigate the night, traveling their own miles to go before they sleep." The work presents a fusion of several Hopper themes: the solitary figure, the melancholy of dusk, and the lonely road. Hopper approaches
surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...
with ''Rooms by the Sea'' (1951), where an open door gives a view of the ocean, without an apparent ladder or steps and no indication of a beach. After his student years, Hopper's nudes were all women. Unlike past artists who painted the female nude to glorify the female form and to highlight female eroticism, Hopper's nudes are solitary women who are psychologically exposed. One audacious exception is ''Girlie Show'' (1941), where a red-headed strip-tease queen strides confidently across a stage to the accompaniment of the musicians in the pit. ''Girlie Show'' was inspired by Hopper's visit to a
burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.
show a few days earlier. Hopper's wife, as usual, posed for him for the painting, and noted in her diary, "Ed beginning a new canvas—a burlesque queen doing a strip tease—and I posing without a stitch on in front of the stove—nothing but high heels in a lottery dance pose." Hopper's portraits and self-portraits were relatively few after his student years. Hopper did produce a commissioned "portrait" of a house, ''The MacArthurs' Home'' (1939), where he faithfully details the Victorian architecture of the home of actress
Helen Hayes Helen Hayes MacArthur ( Brown; October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993) was an American actress whose career spanned 80 years. She eventually received the nickname "First Lady of American Theatre" and was the second person and first woman to have w ...
. She reported later, "I guess I never met a more misanthropic, grumpy individual in my life." Hopper grumbled throughout the project and never again accepted a commission. Hopper also painted ''Portrait of Orleans'' (1950), a "portrait" of the Cape Cod town from its main street. Though very interested in the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...
and
Mathew Brady Mathew B. Brady ( – January 15, 1896) was one of the earliest photographers in American history. Best known for his scenes of the Civil War, he studied under inventor Samuel Morse, who pioneered the daguerreotype technique in America. Brad ...
's battlefield photographs, Hopper made only two historical paintings. Both depicted soldiers on their way to Gettysburg. Also rare among his themes are paintings showing action. The best example of an action painting is ''Bridle Path'' (1939), but Hopper's struggle with the proper anatomy of the horses may have discouraged him from similar attempts. Hopper's final oil painting, ''Two Comedians'' (1966), painted one year before his death, focuses on his love of the theater. Two French
pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speakin ...
actors, one male and one female, both dressed in bright white costumes, take their bow in front of a darkened stage. Jo Hopper confirmed that her husband intended the figures to suggest they are taking their life's last bows together as husband and wife. Hopper's paintings have often been seen by others as having a narrative or thematic content that the artist may not have intended. Much meaning can be added to a painting by its title, but the titles of Hopper's paintings were sometimes chosen by others, or were selected by Hopper and his wife in a way that makes it unclear whether they have any real connection with the artist's meaning. For example, Hopper once told an interviewer that he was "fond of '' Early Sunday Morning''... but it wasn't necessarily Sunday. That word was tacked on later by someone else." The tendency to read thematic or narrative content into Hopper's paintings, that Hopper had not intended, extended even to his wife. When Jo Hopper commented on the figure in ''Cape Cod Morning'' "It's a woman looking out to see if the weather's good enough to hang out her wash," Hopper retorted, "Did I say that? You're making it Norman Rockwell. From my point of view she's just looking out the window." Another example of the same phenomenon is recorded in a 1948 article in ''Time'':
Hopper's ''Summer Evening'', a young couple talking in the harsh light of a cottage porch, is inescapably romantic, but Hopper was hurt by one critic's suggestion that it would do for an illustration in "any woman's magazine." Hopper had the painting in the back of his head "for 20 years and I never thought of putting the figures in until I actually started last summer. Why any art director would tear the picture apart. The figures were not what interested me; it was the light streaming down, and the night all around."


Place in American art

In focusing primarily on quiet moments, very rarely showing action, Hopper employed a form of realism adopted by another leading American realist,
Andrew Wyeth Andrew Newell Wyeth ( ; July 12, 1917 – January 16, 2009) was an American visual artist, primarily a realist painter, working predominantly in a regionalist style. He was one of the best-known U.S. artists of the middle 20th century. In his ...
, but Hopper's technique was completely different from Wyeth's hyper-detailed style. In league with some of his contemporaries, Hopper shared his urban sensibility with
John Sloan John French Sloan (August 2, 1871 – September 7, 1951) was an American painter and etcher. He is considered to be one of the founders of the Ashcan school of American art. He was also a member of the group known as The Eight. He is best known ...
and
George Bellows George Wesley Bellows (August 12 or August 19, 1882 – January 8, 1925) was an American realist painter, known for his bold depictions of urban life in New York City. He became, according to the Columbus Museum of Art, "the most acclaimed Ame ...
but avoided their overt action and violence. Where
Joseph Stella Joseph Stella (born Giuseppe Michele Stella, June 13, 1877 – November 5, 1946) was an Italian-born American Futurist painter best known for his depictions of industrial America, especially his images of the Brooklyn Bridge. He is also ...
and
Georgia O'Keeffe Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 – March 6, 1986) was an American modernist artist. She was known for her paintings of enlarged flowers, New York skyscrapers, and New Mexico landscapes. O'Keeffe has been called the "Mother of Ame ...
glamorized the monumental structures of the city, Hopper reduced them to everyday geometrics and he depicted the pulse of the city as desolate and dangerous rather than "elegant or seductive".
Charles Burchfield Charles Ephraim Burchfield (April 9, 1893 – January 10, 1967) was an American painter and visionary artist, known for his passionate watercolors of nature scenes and townscapes. The largest collection of Burchfield's paintings, archives and jo ...
, whom Hopper admired and to whom he was compared, said of Hopper, "he achieves such a complete verity that you can read into his interpretations of houses and conceptions of New York life any human implications you wish." He also attributed Hopper's success to his "bold individualism. ... In him we have regained that sturdy American independence which
Thomas Eakins Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins (; July 25, 1844 – June 25, 1916) was an American realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the most important American artists. For the length ...
gave us, but which for a time was lost." Hopper considered this a high compliment since he considered Eakins the greatest American painter. Hopper scholar Deborah Lyons writes, "Our own moments of revelation are often mirrored, transcendent, in his work. Once seen, Hopper's interpretations exist in our consciousness in tandem with our own experience. We forever see a certain type of house as a Hopper house, invested perhaps with a mystery that Hopper implanted in our own vision." Hopper's paintings highlight the seemingly mundane and typical scenes in our everyday life and give them cause for epiphany. In this way Hopper's art takes the gritty American landscape and lonely gas stations and creates within them a sense of beautiful anticipation. Although compared to his contemporary
Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of the country's culture. Rockwell is most famous for the ...
in terms of subject matter, Hopper did not like the comparison. Hopper considered himself more subtle, less illustrative, and certainly not sentimental. Hopper also rejected comparisons with
Grant Wood Grant DeVolson Wood (February 13, 1891 February 12, 1942) was an American painter and representative of Regionalism, best known for his paintings depicting the rural American Midwest. He is particularly well known for ''American Gothic'' (1930 ...
and Thomas Hart Benton stating "I think the American Scene painters caricatured America. I always wanted to do myself."


Influence

Hopper's influence on the art world and pop culture is undeniable; see for numerous examples. Though he had no formal students, many artists have cited him as an influence, including
Willem de Kooning Willem de Kooning (; ; April 24, 1904 – March 19, 1997) was a Dutch-American abstract expressionist artist. He was born in Rotterdam and moved to the United States in 1926, becoming an American citizen in 1962. In 1943, he married painter El ...
,
Jim Dine Jim Dine (born June 16, 1935 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American artist whose œuvre extends over sixty years. Dine’s work includes painting, drawing, printmaking (in many forms including lithographs, etchings, gravure, intaglio, woodcuts, l ...
, and
Mark Rothko Mark Rothko (), born Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz (russian: Ма́ркус Я́ковлевич Ротко́вич, link=no, lv, Markuss Rotkovičs, link=no; name not Anglicized until 1940; September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970), was a Lat ...
. An illustration of Hopper's influence is Rothko's early work ''Composition I'' (c. 1931), which is a direct paraphrase of Hopper's ''Chop Suey''. Hopper's cinematic compositions and dramatic use of light and dark have made him a favorite among filmmakers. For example, ''House by the Railroad'' is reported to have heavily influenced the iconic house in the
Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
film '' Psycho''. The same painting has also been cited as being an influence on the home in the
Terrence Malick Terrence Frederick Malick (born November 30, 1943) is an American filmmaker. His films include ''Days of Heaven'' (1978), '' The Thin Red Line'' (1998), for which he received Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay ...
film ''
Days of Heaven ''Days of Heaven'' is a 1978 American romantic period drama film written and directed by Terrence Malick, and starring Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard and Linda Manz. Set in 1916, it tells the story of Bill and Abby, lovers who travel ...
''. The 1981 film '' Pennies from Heaven'' includes a
tableau vivant A (; often shortened to ; plural: ), French for "living picture", is a static scene containing one or more actors or models. They are stationary and silent, usually in costume, carefully posed, with props and/or scenery, and may be theatrica ...
of ''Nighthawks'', with the lead actors in the places of the diners. German director
Wim Wenders Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker, playwright, author, and photographer. He is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among many honors, he has received three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Docu ...
also cites Hopper influence. His 1997 film ''
The End of Violence ''The End of Violence'' is a 1997 drama film by the German director Wim Wenders. The film's cast includes Bill Pullman, Andie MacDowell, Gabriel Byrne, Traci Lind, Rosalind Chao, and Loren Dean, among others. It also features a soundtrack marked w ...
'' also incorporates a tableau vivant of ''Nighthawks'', recreated by actors. Noted surrealist horror film director
Dario Argento Dario Argento (; born 7 September 1940) is an Italian film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and critic. His influential work in the horror genre during the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in the subgenre known as ''giallo'', has led him ...
went so far as to recreate the diner and the patrons in ''Nighthawks'' as part of a set for his 1976 film ''
Deep Red ''Deep Red'' ( it, Profondo rosso), also known as ''The Hatchet Murders'', is a 1975 Italian thriller- giallo film directed by Dario Argento and co-written by Argento and Bernardino Zapponi. It stars David Hemmings as a musician who investigates ...
'' (aka ''Profondo Rosso'').
Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades th ...
has cited the same painting as a visual inspiration for ''
Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick's ...
''. To establish the lighting of scenes in the 2002 film ''
Road to Perdition ''Road to Perdition'' is a 2002 American crime drama film directed by Sam Mendes. The screenplay was adapted by David Self from the graphic novel of the same name written by Max Allan Collins and illustrated by Richard Piers Rayner. The film ...
'', director
Sam Mendes Sir Samuel Alexander Mendes (born 1 August 1965) is a British film and stage director, producer, and screenwriter. In 2000, Mendes was appointed a CBE for his services to drama, and he was knighted in the 2020 New Years Honours List. That s ...
drew from the paintings of Hopper as a source of inspiration, particularly ''New York Movie''. Homages to ''Nighthawks'' featuring cartoon characters or famous pop culture icons such as
James Dean James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, '' Rebel Without a Caus ...
and
Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...
are often found in poster stores and gift shops. The cable television channel
Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of ...
sometimes runs animated clips based on Hopper paintings prior to airing its films. Musical influences include singer-songwriter
Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...
's 1975 live-in-the-studio album titled ''
Nighthawks at the Diner ''Nighthawks at the Diner'' is the third studio album by singer and songwriter Tom Waits, released on October 21, 1975 on Asylum Records. It was recorded over four sessions in July in the Los Angeles Record Plant studio in front of a small invit ...
'', after the painting. In 1993,
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
was inspired sufficiently by Hopper's 1941 painting ''Girlie Show'' that she named her world tour after it and incorporated many of the theatrical elements and mood of the painting into the show. In 2004, British guitarist
John Squire Jonathan Thomas "John" Squire (born 24 November 1962)Larkin, Colin (ed.) (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Indie & New Wave'', Virgin Books, is an English musician, songwriter and painter. He was the guitarist for The Stone Roses, a rock b ...
(formerly of
The Stone Roses The Stone Roses were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. One of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the band's classic and most prominent lineup consisted of vocalist Ian Brown, ...
) released a
concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Some ...
based on Hopper's work entitled ''
Marshall's House ''Marshall's House'' is the second solo album by the British guitarist John Squire. It was released in 2004 on his own North Country Records label. Each song is inspired by, and shares its title with, a painting by Edward Hopper. Track listing ...
''. Each song on the album is inspired by, and shares its title with, a painting by Hopper. Canadian rock group
The Weakerthans The Weakerthans are an award-winning and Juno-nominated Canadian indie rock band from Winnipeg. The band, led by John K. Samson, has released four studio albums and is currently inactive. History The band was formed in 1997 in Winnipeg, Manito ...
released their album Reunion Tour in 2007 featuring two songs inspired by and named after Hopper paintings, "Sun in an Empty Room", and "Night Windows", and have also referenced him in songs such as "Hospital Vespers". Hopper's ''Compartment C, Car 293'' inspired Polish composer
Paweł Szymański Paweł Szymański (born 28 March 1954 in Warsaw, Poland) is a Polish composer. When he was a student at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music, Szymański studied composition under Włodzimierz Kotoński. Paweł later studied under Roman Haube ...
's ''Compartment 2, Car 7'' for violin, viola, cello and
vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist ...
(2003), as well as
Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine () is a French pop-rock singer and songwriter. He was born on 21 July 1948 in the town of Dole in the Jura département. Mostly shunned by television and radio, he has built over the years – through word of mouth ...
's song ''Compartiment C Voiture 293 Edward Hopper 1938'' (2011). Hopper's work has influenced multiple recordings by British band
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) are an English electronic band formed in Wirral, Merseyside, in 1978. The group consists of co-founders Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards, vocals), along with Martin C ...
. ''Early Sunday Morning'' was the inspiration for the sleeve of '' Crush'' (1985). The same band's 2013 single " Night Café" was influenced by ''Nighthawks'' and mentions Hopper by name. Seven of his paintings are referenced in the lyrics. In poetry, numerous poems have been inspired by Hopper's paintings, typically as vivid descriptions and dramatizations; this genre is known as
ekphrasis The word ekphrasis, or ecphrasis, comes from the Greek for the written description of a work of art produced as a rhetorical or literary exercise, often used in the adjectival form ekphrastic. It is a vivid, often dramatic, verbal descrip ...
. In addition to numerous individual poems inspired by Hopper, several poets have written collections based on Hopper's paintings. The French poet
Claude Esteban Claude Esteban (26 July 1935, Paris – 10 April 2006, Paris) was a French poet. Author of a major poetic œuvre of this last half-century, Claude Esteban wrote numerous essays on art and poetry and was the French translator, inter alia, of Jorg ...
wrote a collection of prose poems, '' Soleil dans une pièce vide'' (''Sun in an Empty room'', 1991), based on forty-seven Hopper paintings from between 1921 and 1963, ending with ''Sun in an Empty room'' (1963), hence the title. The poems each dramatized a Hopper painting, imagining a story behind the scene; the book won the
Prix France Culture The Prix France Culture is a former literary award created in 1979 by the radio station France Culture. In 2006, it was renamed Prix France Culture/Télérama, and its name was used from 2007 replacing the "Prix Arlequin", cinematographic prize aw ...
prize in 1991. Eight of the poems – ''Ground Swell'', ''Girl at Sewing Machine'', ''Compartment C, Car 293'', ''Nighthawks'', ''South Carolina Morning'', ''House by the Railroad'', ''People in the Sun'', and ''Roofs of Washington Square'' – were subsequently set to music by composer
Graciane Finzi Graciane Finzi (born 10 July 1945) is a Morocco-born French composer. Life Graciane Finzi was born in Casablanca, Morocco, and studied music at the Casablanca Conservatory, then managed by Georges Friboulet, where her parents were teachers. She en ...
, and recorded with reading by the singer
Natalie Dessay Natalie Dessay (; born 19 April 1965) is a French singer, known for her former career as an operatic soprano. She gained wide recognition after her portrayal of Olympia in ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' in 1992, and then performing at leading stages, ...
on her album ''Portraits of America'' (2016), where they were supplemented by selecting ten additional Hopper paintings, and songs from the
American songbook The Great American Songbook is the loosely defined canon of significant early-20th-century American jazz standards, popular songs, and show tunes. Definition According to the Great American Songbook Foundation: The "Great American Songbook" is ...
to go with them. Similarly, the Spanish poet
Ernest Farrés Ernest is a given name derived from Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious". Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People *Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor *Ernest, M ...
wrote a collection of fifty-one poems in
Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
, under the name ''Edward Hopper'' (2006, English translation 2010 by Lawrence Venuti), and James Hoggard wrote ''Triangles of Light: The Edward Hopper Poems'' (Wings Press, 2009). A collection by various poets was organized in ''The Poetry of Solitude: A Tribute to Edward Hopper'' 1995 (editor Gail Levin). Individual poems include Byron Vazakas (1957) and John Stone (1985) inspired by '' Early Sunday Morning'', and Mary Leader inspired by '' Girl at Sewing Machine''.


Exhibitions

In 1980, the show ''Edward Hopper: The Art and the Artist'' opened at the Whitney Museum of American Art and visited London, Düsseldorf, and Amsterdam, as well as San Francisco and Chicago. For the first time ever, this show presented Hopper's oil paintings together with preparatory studies for those works. This was the beginning of Hopper's popularity in Europe and his large worldwide reputation. In 2004, a large selection of Hopper's paintings toured Europe, visiting
Museum Ludwig Museum Ludwig, located in Cologne, Germany, houses a collection of modern art. It includes works from Pop Art, Abstract and Surrealism, and has one of the largest Picasso collections in Europe. It holds many works by Andy Warhol and Roy Lic ...
in
Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
, Germany, and the
Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It ...
in London. The Tate exhibition became the second most popular in the gallery's history, with 420,000 visitors in the three months it was open. In 2007, an exhibition focused on the period of Hopper's greatest achievements—from about 1925 to mid-century—and was presented at the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...
. The exhibit comprised fifty oil paintings, thirty watercolors, and twelve prints, including the favorites ''Nighthawks'', ''Chop Suey'', and ''Lighthouse and Buildings''. The exhibition was organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the
National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of ch ...
, Washington, and the Art Institute of Chicago and sponsored by the global management consulting firm
Booz Allen Hamilton Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation (informally Booz Allen) is the parent of Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., an American management and information technology consulting firm, headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in Greater Washington, D.C., with 8 ...
. In 2010, the Fondation de l'Hermitage museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, held an exhibition that covered Hopper's entire career, with works drawn largely from the Whitney Museum in New York City. It included paintings, watercolors, etchings, cartoons, posters, as well as some of the preparatory studies for selected paintings. The exhibition had previously been seen in Milan and Rome. In 2011, The Whitney Museum of American Art held an exhibition called ''Edward Hopper and His Times''. In 2012, an exhibition opened at the
Grand Palais The Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées ( en, Great Palace of the Elysian Fields), commonly known as the Grand Palais (English: Great Palace), is a historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located at the Champs-Élysées in the 8th ...
in Paris that sought to shed light on the complexity of his masterpieces, which is an indication of the richness of Hopper's oeuvre. It was divided chronologically into two main parts: the first section covered Hopper's formative years (1900–1924), comparing his work with that of his contemporaries and art he saw in Paris, which may have influenced him. The second section looked at the art of his mature years, from the first paintings emblematic of his personal style, such as ''House by the Railroad'' (1924), to his last works. In 2020, Fondation Beyeler held an exhibition displaying Hopper's art. The exhibition focused on Hopper's "iconic representations of the infinite expanse of American landscapes and cityscapes". This aspect has rarely been referred to in exhibitions, yet it is a key ingredient to understanding Hopper's work. From 2022 to 2023, his work was featured at the
Whitney Museum The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, in an exhibition was entitled, "Edward Hopper's New York".


Art market

Works by Hopper rarely appear on the market. The artist was not prolific, painting just 366 canvases; during the 1950s, when he was in his 70s, he produced approximately five paintings a year. Hopper's longtime dealer, Frank Rehn, who gave the artist his first solo show in 1924, sold ''Hotel Window'' (1956) to collector Olga Knoepke for $7,000 () in 1957. In 1999, the Forbes Collection sold it to actor
Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominate ...
privately for around $10 million. In 2006, Martin sold it for $26.89 million at
Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...
New York, an auction record for the artist. In 2013 the
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appa ...
put Hopper's ''
East Wind Over Weehawken ''East Wind Over Weehawken'' is an oil painting on canvas by American realist painter Edward Hopper. It was held in the collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in the United States from 1952 until its sale to an anonymous buyer in ...
'' (1934) up for sale, hoping to garner the $22–$28 million at which the painting is valued, to establish a fund to acquire "contemporary art" that would appreciate in value.Carswell, Vonecia (December 6, 2013)
"1934 'East Wind Over Weehawken' painting sells for $36M at Christie's auction"
''
The Jersey Journal ''The Jersey Journal'' is a daily newspaper, published from Monday through Saturday, covering news and events throughout Hudson County, New Jersey. ''The Journal'' is a sister paper to ''The Star-Ledger'' of Newark, ''The Times'' of Trenton an ...
''.
It is a street scene rendered in dark, earthy tones depicting the gabled house at 1001
Boulevard East Boulevard East (officially John F. Kennedy Boulevard East, and sometimes referred to as JFK Boulevard East) is a two-way, mostly two lane, scenic county road in the North Hudson, New Jersey municipalities of Weehawken, West New York, Guttenberg ...
at the corner of 49th Street in
Weehawken, New Jersey Weehawken is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located largely on the Hudson Palisades overlooking the Hudson River. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 17,197.
, and is considered one of Hopper's best works. It was acquired directly from the dealer handling the artist's paintings in 1952, fifteen years before the death of the painter, at a very low price. The painting sold for a record-breaking $36 million at
Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is owned by Groupe Artémi ...
in New York, to an anonymous telephone bidder. In 2018, after the death of art collector Barney A. Ebsworth and subsequent auction of many of the pieces from his collection, ''
Chop Suey Chop suey () is a dish in American Chinese cuisine and other forms of overseas Chinese cuisine, consisting of meat (usually chicken, pork, beef, shrimp or fish) and eggs, cooked quickly with vegetables such as bean sprouts, cabbage, and celery a ...
'' (1929) was sold for $92 million, becoming the most expensive of Hopper's work ever bought at auction.


In popular culture

In addition to his influence (see ), Hopper is frequently referenced in popular culture. In 1981, ''Hopper's Silence'', a documentary by Brian O'Doherty produced by the Whitney Museum of American Art, was shown at the
New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center (FLC). Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, i ...
at
Alice Tully Hall Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in the Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The hall is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and philanthropist whose donations assist ...
. Austrian director Gustav Deutsch created the 2013 film ''Shirley – Visions of Reality'' based on 13 of Edward Hopper's paintings.Gustav Deutsch brings Hopper's paintings alive
. Retrieved on April 8, 2014
Other works based on or inspired by Hopper's paintings include Tom Waits's 1975 album ''
Nighthawks at the Diner ''Nighthawks at the Diner'' is the third studio album by singer and songwriter Tom Waits, released on October 21, 1975 on Asylum Records. It was recorded over four sessions in July in the Los Angeles Record Plant studio in front of a small invit ...
'', and a 2012 series of photographs by Gail Albert Halaban. In the book (1985, 1998) and traveling exhibition called ''Hopper's Places'', Gail Levin located and photographed the sites for many of Hopper's paintings. In her 1985 review of a related show organized by Levin, Vivien Raynor wrote in the ''New York Times'': "Miss Levin's deductions are invariably enlightening, as when she infers that Hopper's tendency to elongate structures was a reflection of his own great height." New wave band
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) are an English electronic band formed in Wirral, Merseyside, in 1978. The group consists of co-founders Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards, vocals), along with Martin C ...
's 1985 album '' Crush'' features artwork inspired by several Hopper paintings, including ''Early Sunday Morning'', ''Nighthawks'' and ''Room in New York''. The band's 2013 single "Night Cafe" was influenced by ''Nighthawks'' and mentions Hopper by name. Seven of his paintings are referenced in the lyrics. The
New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through 2013 (when it filed for bankruptcy), and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, du ...
staged the East Coast premiere of Stewart Wallace's "Hopper's Wife" – a 1997
chamber opera Chamber opera is a designation for operas written to be performed with a chamber ensemble rather than a full orchestra. Early 20th-century operas of this type include Paul Hindemith's '' Cardillac'' (1926). Earlier small-scale operas such as Pergol ...
about an imagined marriage between Edward Hopper and the
gossip columnist A gossip columnist is someone who writes a gossip column in a newspaper or magazine, especially a gossip magazine. Gossip columns are material written in a light, informal style, which relates the gossip columnist's opinions about the personal l ...
Hedda Hopper Hedda Hopper (born Elda Furry; May 2, 1885February 1, 1966) was an American gossip columnist and actress. At the height of her influence in the 1940s, her readership was 35 million. A strong supporter of the House Un-American Activities Committ ...
, at Harlem Stage in 2016. Irish novelist, Christine Dwyer Hickey, published a novel, ''The Narrow Land'', in 2019 in which Edward and Jo Hopper were central characters.Christine Dwyer Hickey, ''I Lost a Kidney and Gained a Novel'', Irish Times, 9 March 2019
/ref>
Paul Weller Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul mu ...
included a song named 'Hopper' on his 2017 album ''
A Kind Revolution ''A Kind Revolution'' is the thirteenth studio album by English singer-songwriter Paul Weller, released 12 May 2017. It contains a collaboration with Robert Wyatt in the song "She Moves with the Fayre". Track listing Personnel *P.P. Arnold - ...
''.


Selected works


Notes


References

*Clause, Bonnie Tocher. ''Edward Hopper in Vermont''. Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England, 2012. *Goodrich, Lloyd. ''Edward Hopper''. New York: H. N. Abrams, 1971. *Haskell, Barbara. ''Modern Life: Edward Hopper and His Time''. Hamburg: Bucerius Kunst Forum, 2009. *Healy, Pat. "Look at all the lonely people: MFA's 'Hopper' celebrates solitude", ''Metro'' newspaper, Tuesday, May 8, 2007, p. 18. *Kranzfelder, Ivo. ''Hopper''. New York: Taschen, 1994. *Kuh, Katharine. Interview with Edward Hopper in Katherine Kuh, ''The Artist's Voice: Talks with Seventeen Artists''. New York: 1962, Di Capo Press, 2000. pp. 130–142. *Levin, Gail. ''Edward Hopper''. New York: Crown, 1984. *Levin, Gail. ''Edward Hopper: A Catalogue Raisonne''. New York: Norton, 1995). *Levin, Gail. ''Edward Hopper: An Intimate Biography'' (New York: Knopf, 1995; Rizzoli Books, 2007) *Levin, Gail. ''Edward Hopper: Gli anni della formazione'' (Milan: Electra Editrice, 1981) *Levin, Gail. ''Edward Hopper: The Art and the Artist'' (New York: Norton, 1980, London, 1981; Munich: Schirmer/Mosel, 1986) *Levin, Gail. ''Edward Hopper: The Complete Prints'' (New York: Norton, 1979, London, 1980; Munich: Schirmer/Mosel, 1986) *Levin, Gail. ''Edward Hopper as Illustrator'' (New York: Norton, 1979, London, 1980)
archive
*Levin, Gail. ''Hopper's Places'' (New York: Knopf, 1985; 2nd expanded edition, University of California Press, 1998) *Levin, Gail. ''The Complete Oil Paintings of Edward Hopper'' (New York: Norton, 2001) *Lyons, Deborah, Brian O'Doherty. ''Edward Hopper: A Journal of His Work'' (New York: Norton, 1997) *Maker, Sherry. ''Edward Hopper'' (New York: Brompton Books, 1990) *Mecklenburg, Virginia M. ''Edward Hopper: The Watercolors'' (New York: Norton, 1999) *Renner, Rolf G. ''Edward Hopper 1882–1967: Transformation of the Real'' (New York: Taschen, 1999) *Wagstaff, Sheena, Ed. ''Edward Hopper'' (London, Tate Publishing, London) *Wells, Walter. ''Silent Theater: The Art of Edward Hopper'' (London/New York: Phaidon, 2007). Winner of the 2009 Umhoefer Prize for Achievement in the Arts and Humanities. * * * *


External links



* ttp://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-edward-hopper-11844 Oral history interview with Edward Hopper, June 17, 1959from the Smithsonian
Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washing ...
* Exhaustive list of Hopper's works (in German)
Gallery of Edward Hopper's Paintings

Smithsonian Archives of American Art: Edward Hopper letter to Agnes Albert (1955)

"Edward Hopper all around Gloucester, MA"
— ''100+ paintings, drawings, and prints, with images then and now''.
explore Google Maps: Locations of "Edward Hopper all around Gloucester" sitesGloucester MA HarborWalk
Edward Hopper Story Moment, with additional links, one stop along free public access walkway.
Biblioklept.org: Notes on Painting 1933Edward Hopper House Art Center website
— non-profit art center for contemporary art exhibitions at birthplace/childhood home in Nyack {{DEFAULTSORT:Hopper, Edward American realist painters Modern painters Precisionism 1882 births 1967 deaths Painters from New York City Parsons School of Design alumni Students of Robert Henri People from Greenwich Village People from Nyack, New York American people of Dutch descent 20th-century American printmakers 20th-century American painters American male painters Nyack High School alumni Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters