Edward Hopper was an American painter born on July 22nd, 1882 in Nyack, N.Y. He was the second of two children in a middle-class Baptist family of Dutch descent. His father ran a local shop and loved literature and his mother was an art enthusiast. They both recognized their son’s talent at and early age. As a teenager, Hopper spent a lot of time reading and drawing and pursued the arts after graduating High School in 1899.
Initially trained as an illustrator, Hopper later studied painting under Robert Henri. Hopper travelled to Europe between 1906 and 1910 but wasn’t really influenced by the experimental work that was happening in France at the time and chose to follow his own path instead. He exhibited his paintings in the Armory Show of 1913, but devoted most of his time to advertising art and illustrated etchings until 1924. Afterwards, Hopper moved onto painting with oil and watercolours which is shown in his painting Model Reading (in watercolour) down below.
Like Henri and other painters of the Ashcan School, Hopper painted the commonplaces of urban life. His paintings are recognizable for his anonymous figures and snap-shot compositions, which gives the viewer a sense of loneliness. Hopper uses light in an interesting way whether that be it’s the morning light in Early Sunday Morning, 1930 or the more eerie feel of a coffee stand at night in his famous Nighthawks, 1942.
His realistic depictions of everyday urban scenes are strange yet familiar and his work influenced both Pop art and New Realist painter in the 60s and 70s.
Personally, I love Edward Hopper’s distinct style. I find his work to be comforting yet alienating at the same time. It’s as though you’re looking at a still from a movie, transported into a snapshot of somebody else’s life. I like the way he renders light and the way he mutes his colours. I also like his choice in subject matter, depicting every day scenes. I am also a fan of American mid-century style, so perhaps that is also why his work resonates with me. It’s interesting too, because the atmosphere of his paintings seems to change based on how I am feeling. At times, I see a person comfortable with their own solitude while other times I see a person totally disconnected from the world outside. Finally, I like the way the women in his paintings appear to look like normal people and aren’t idealized in terms of looks. Overall, I am definitely inspired by his work (particualrly his painting Nighthawks and Morning Sun shown down below) and would like to incorporate elements of his style into my own work.
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