Hopper, Edward, 1882–1967, American painter and engraver, b. Nyack, N.Y., studied in New York City with Robert Henri. Hopper lived in France for a year but was little influenced by the artistic currents there. His early paintings had slight success; he gained a reputation, however, through his etchings, which remain popular. In 1920 the first one-man show of his paintings was held; in 1933 a retrospective exhibition of his works took place at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City. He excelled in creating realistic pictures of clear-cut, sunlit streets and houses, often without figures. In his paintings there is a frequent atmosphere of loneliness, an almost menacing starkness, and a clear sense of time of day or night. His work in oil and watercolor is slowly and carefully painted, with light and shade used for pattern rather than for modeling. Hopper is represented in many leading American museums. Early Sunday Morning (1930; Whitney Museum, New York City) is a characteristic oil.

Bibliography

See catalog (1971) and study (1971) by L. Goodrich; biographies by R. Hobbs (1987) and G. Levin (1995); study by G. Levin (1986).

Hopper, Edward

(b. July 22, 1882, Nyack, N.Y., U.S.—d. May 15, 1967, New York, N.Y.) U.S. painter. He was initially trained as an illustrator but later studied painting with Robert Henri. In 1913 he exhibited in the Armory Show but spent much of his time on advertising art and illustrative etchings. In the mid 1920s he turned to watercolours and oil paintings of urban life. His House by the Railroad (1925) and Room in Brooklyn (1932) depict still, anonymous figures within geometric building forms, producing the haunting sense of isolation that was to be his hallmark. He used light to isolate figures and objects, as in Early Sunday Morning (1930) and Nighthawks (1942). His mature style was already formed in the 1920s; his later development showed constant refinement and an even greater mastery of light.

Hopper, Edward (1882–1967) painter; born in Nyack, N.Y. He studied under Robert Henri (1900–06) and traveled in Europe (1906–10), but his etchings, watercolors, and oils over the next 50 years would reflect little of the current art trends. He supported himself as a commercial illustrator until recognition in the mid-1920s. His vision of realism, using moody light and buildings, created a world of human isolation, as in such famous paintings as Early Sunday Morning (1930) and Night Hawks (1942).