Famous Artist Friday - Edward Hopper

Edward Hopper

Today I can't wait to introduce you to Edward Hopper,

in case you, like me, do not know who he is.

After studying about him, and looking at his art,

I am embarrassed to say I did not know who he was.

I found him through his famous quote.

I loved his quote, because that's how I feel so often.

Hopper was born July 22, 1882 in Nyack, New York

and he died May 15, 1967 in New York City.

He is considered one of the most important realism painters of the 20th century, but his real is not a photo realism style, but is more interpretive.  I love his perspective of what he paints.  He is sort of a minimalist in that his cityscapes and landscapes are often empty and he seldom painted anything but singular figures.

I love the gas pump painting, above right, because of the perspective and the nostalgia of it.

 Automat

Automat is another favorite of mine.

But you can tell he has taken out every thing possible

in this painting but still tells a story.

 

 This painting could be easily be LaGrange, KY

or many other small towns across the USA.

Born into a middle class family, he studied at the

New York School of Art from 1900-1906.  

His studies started out in illustration, but his interest shifted to fine art.  He did work as an illustrator for a short time, but when he left that pursuit, he made three trips to Paris, France between 1906-1910 and his work was greatly influenced by these trips.

While in Paris, Picasso was gaining popularity as was Cubism, but Hopper was drawn to impressionism and its treatment of architecture and people and the light.

Hopper said he never heard of Picasso at this time.

Artists such as Monet, Cezanne and Van Gogh influenced his palette and his treatment of light.  When Hopper returned to the United States in 1910, he never left the country again.

Like many artists, Hopper struggled to gain any notice of his work and the money he did make came from etchings and murals.

In 1923 Hopper married fellow student, Josephine Nivision.  She posed for over half of his female figure pieces and she encouraged him to try many other art forms.

Hopper gained notoriety through several singular shows and while he didn't sell anything at his first show, it gave him the exposure he needed for his work to be seen by many.

Nighthawks

This is Hoppers most famous work, painted during WWII

and many look at the disconnect between their world and the outside world caught up in war.

During the 1940's Hopper found his most financial success,

but he also was known to suffer from boredom and traveled up and down the east coast for new surroundings and inspiration. 

His art can be seen in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, The Art Institute of Chicago,and The Whitney Museum in New York, as well as many others. 

I love his work because of the minimalist viewpoint he has and it will be something I know I will work on and try to learn from him.

I hope you have enjoyed this Famous Artist Friday post.  If you did, I hope you will leave a comment about Hoppers art and please feel free to share it with anyone you feel would also enjoy it.  Information in it came from several websites including:
https://www.edwardhopper.net/  -  which you really should check out because it has so much of his art there.  

https://www.wikiart.org/en/edward-hopper   This was also another great website for his art.

If you are interested in learning to paint, please visit my website at https://www.paintingwithacrylics101.com
to see my full blown art course, a single subject class of iris, and a FREE daisy painting class.  I am currently updating my website and will be adding more single subject classes and a membership site where you will be able to pay by the month for some pretty great art lessons, all developed for the beginning painter.

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Thanks for stopping by today and have a great day.  I sure hope it's warming up where you are.  I am really tired of being in the single digits.