Biography Edward Hopper

1 biography

1.1 life
1.2 years of struggle
1.3 marriage , breakthrough
1.4 death

biography
early life

childhood home of edward hopper in upper nyack, new york

hopper born in 1882 in upper nyack, new york, yacht-building center on hudson river north of new york city. 1 of 2 children of comfortably well-to-do family. parents, of dutch ancestry, elizabeth griffiths smith , garret henry hopper, dry-goods merchant. although not successful forebears, garrett provided 2 children considerable wife s inheritance. retired @ age forty-nine. edward , sister marion attended both private , public schools. raised in strict baptist home. father had mild nature, , household dominated women: hopper s mother, grandmother, sister, , maid.

his birthplace , boyhood home listed on national register of historic places in 2000. operated edward hopper house art center. serves nonprofit community cultural center featuring exhibitions, workshops, lectures, performances, , special events.

hopper student in grade school , showed talent in drawing @ age five. readily absorbed father s intellectual tendencies , love of french , russian cultures. demonstrated mother s artistic heritage. hopper s parents encouraged art , kept him amply supplied materials, instructional magazines, , illustrated books. teens, working in pen-and-ink, charcoal, watercolor, , oil—drawing nature making political cartoons. in 1895, created first signed oil painting, rowboat in rocky cove. shows interest in nautical subjects.

in self-portraits, hopper tended represent himself skinny, ungraceful, , homely. though tall , quiet teenager, prankish sense of humor found outlet in art, in depictions of immigrants or of women dominating men in comic situations. later in life, depicted women figures in paintings. in high school, dreamed of being naval architect, after graduation declared intention follow art career. hopper s parents insisted study commercial art have reliable means of income. in developing self-image , individualistic philosophy of life, hopper influenced writings of ralph waldo emerson. later said, admire him greatly...i read him on , on again.

hopper began art studies correspondence course in 1899. transferred new york school of art , design, forerunner of parsons new school design. there studied 6 years, teachers including william merritt chase, instructed him in oil painting. on, hopper modeled style after chase , french impressionist masters Édouard manet , edgar degas. sketching live models proved challenge , shock conservatively raised hopper.

another of teachers, artist robert henri, taught life class. henri encouraged students use art make stir in world . advised students, isn t subject counts feel , forget art , paint pictures of interests in life. in manner, henri influenced hopper, notable future artists george bellows , rockwell kent. encouraged them imbue modern spirit in work. artists in henri s circle, including john sloan, became members of 8 , known ashcan school of american art. hopper s first existing oil painting hint @ famous interiors solitary figure in theater (c.1904). during student years, painted dozens of nudes, still life studies, landscapes, , portraits, including self-portraits.

in 1905, hopper landed part-time job advertising agency, created cover designs trade magazines. hopper came detest illustration. bound economic necessity until mid-1920s. temporarily escaped making 3 trips europe, each centered in paris, ostensibly study emerging art scene there. in fact, however, studied alone , seemed unaffected new currents in art. later said didn t remember having heard of picasso @ all. highly impressed rembrandt, particularly night watch, said wonderful thing of have seen; s past belief in reality.

hopper began painting urban , architectural scenes in dark palette. shifted lighter palette of impressionists before returning darker palette comfortable. hopper later said, got on , later things done in paris more kind of things now. hopper spent of time drawing street , café scenes, , going theater , opera. unlike many of contemporaries imitated abstract cubist experiments, hopper attracted realist art. later, admitted no european influences other french engraver charles méryon, moody paris scenes hopper imitated.

years of struggle

summer interior (1909)

after returning last european trip, hopper rented studio in new york city, struggled define own style. reluctantly, returned illustration support himself. being freelancer, hopper forced solicit projects, , had knock on doors of magazine , agency offices find business. painting languished: s hard me decide want paint. go months without finding sometimes. comes slowly. fellow illustrator, walter tittle, described hopper s depressed emotional state in sharper terms, seeing friend suffering...from long periods of unconquerable inertia, sitting days @ time before easel in helpless unhappiness, unable raise hand break spell.

in 1912, hopper traveled gloucester, massachusetts, seek inspiration , made first outdoor paintings in america. painted squam light, first of many lighthouse paintings come.

in 1913, @ famous armory show, hopper earned $250 when sold first painting, sailing (1911), had painted on earlier self-portrait. hopper thirty-one, , although hoped first sale lead others in short order, career not catch on many more years. continued participate in group exhibitions @ smaller venues, such macdowell club of new york. shortly after father s death same year, hopper moved 3 washington square north apartment in greenwich village section of manhattan, live rest of life.

the following year received commission make movie posters , handle publicity movie company. although did not illustration work, hopper lifelong devotee of cinema , theatre, both of treated subjects paintings. each form influenced compositional methods.

at impasse on oil paintings, in 1915 hopper turned etching. 1923 had produced of approximately 70 works in medium, many of urban scenes of both paris , new york. produced posters war effort, continuing occasional commercial projects. when could, hopper did outdoor watercolors on visits new england, @ art colonies @ ogunquit, , monhegan island.

night on el train (1918) edward hopper

during 1920s etchings began receive public recognition. expressed of later themes, in night on el train (couples in silence), evening wind (solitary female), , catboat (simple nautical scene). 2 notable oil paintings of time new york interior (1921) , new york restaurant (1922). painted 2 of many window paintings come: girl @ sewing machine , moonlight interior, both of show figure (clothed or nude) near window of apartment viewed gazing out or point of view outside looking in.

poster illustration, smash hun (1919)

although these frustrating years, hopper gained recognition. in 1918, hopper awarded u.s. shipping board prize war poster, smash hun. participated in 3 exhibitions: in 1917 society of independent artists, in january 1920 (a one-man exhibition @ whitney studio club, precursor whitney museum), , in 1922 (again whitney studio club). in 1923, hopper received 2 awards etchings: logan prize chicago society of etchers, , w. a. bryan prize.

marriage , breakthrough

by 1923, hopper s slow climb produced breakthrough. re-encountered josephine nivison, artist , former student of robert henri, during summer painting trip in gloucester, massachusetts. opposites: short, open, gregarious, sociable, , liberal, while tall, secretive, shy, quiet, introspective, , conservative. married year later. remarked famously, talking eddie dropping stone in well, except doesn t thump when hits bottom. subordinated career , shared reclusive life style. rest of lives revolved around spare walk-up apartment in city , summers in south truro on cape cod. managed career , interviews, primary model, , life companion.

with nivison s help, 6 of hopper s gloucester watercolors admitted exhibit @ brooklyn museum in 1923. 1 of them, mansard roof, purchased museum permanent collection sum of $100. critics raved work; 1 stated, vitality, force , directness! observe can done homeliest subject. hopper sold watercolors @ one-man show following year , decided put illustration behind him.

the artist had demonstrated ability transfer attraction parisian architecture american urban , rural architecture. according boston museum of fine arts curator carol troyen, hopper liked way these houses, turrets , towers , porches , mansard roofs , ornament cast wonderful shadows. said favorite thing painting sunlight on side of house.

road in maine (1914)

at forty-one, hopper received further recognition work. continued harbor bitterness career, later turning down appearances , awards. financial stability secured steady sales, hopper live simple, stable life , continue creating art in distinctive style 4 more decades.

his 2 on aisle (1927) sold personal record $1,500, enabling hopper purchase automobile, used make field trips remote areas of new england. in 1929, produced chop suey , railroad sunset. following year, art patron stephen clark donated house railroad (1925) museum of modern art, first oil painting acquired collection. hopper painted last self-portrait in oil around 1930. although josephine posed many of paintings, sat 1 formal oil portrait husband, jo painting (1936).

hopper fared better many other artists during great depression. stature took sharp rise in 1931 when major museums, including whitney museum of american art , metropolitan museum of art, paid thousands of dollars works. sold 30 paintings year, including 13 watercolors. following year participated in first whitney annual, , continued exhibit in every annual @ museum rest of life. in 1933, museum of modern art gave hopper first large-scale retrospective.

president obama views cobb s barns, south truro (top), , burly cobb s house, south truro, both ca. 1930–33, added oval office in 2014. (loan whitney museum.)

in 1930, hoppers rented cottage on cape cod in south truro, massachusetts. returned south truro every summer rest of lives, building summer house there in 1934. there, take driving trips other areas when edward needed search fresh material paint. in summers of 1937 , 38, hoppers spent extended sojourns on wagon wheels farm in south royalton, vermont, edward painted series of watercolors along white river. these scenes atypical among hopper s mature works, pure landscapes, devoid of architecture or human figures. first branch of white river (1938), in museum of fine arts, boston, well-known of hopper s vermont landscapes.

hopper productive through 1930s , 1940s, producing among many important works new york movie (1939), girlie show (1941), nighthawks (1942), hotel lobby (1943), , morning in city (1944). during late 1940s, however, suffered period of relative inactivity. admitted, wish paint more. sick of reading , going movies. during next 2 decades, health faltered, , had several prostate surgeries , other medical problems. but, in 1950s , 1960s, created several more major works, including first row orchestra (1951); morning sun , hotel railroad, both in 1952; , intermission in 1963.

death

where hopper lived in new york city, 3 washington square north



gravestone edward und josephine h., oak hill cemetery nyack

hopper died in studio near washington square in new york city on may 15, 1967. buried 2 days later in family s grave @ oak hill cemetery in nyack, new york, place of birth. wife died ten months later.

his wife bequeathed joint collection of more 3 thousand works whitney museum of american art. other significant paintings hopper held museum of modern art in new york, des moines art center, , art institute of chicago.