Edward Hopper

Edward Hopper 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. The first one-man show of his paintings was held in 1920. Hopper 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, N.Y.C.) and Nighthawks (1942; Art Institute of Chicago) are characteristic oils.

Bibliography: See catalog raisonné ed. by G. Levin (1995); catalog and study by L. Goodrich (both: 1971); biographies by R. Hobbs (1987) and G. Levin (1995, repr. 2007); studies by G. Levin (1981, repr. 1986); S. Wagstaff, D. Anfam, and B. O'Doherty (2004); and C. Troyen, J. Barter, and E. Davis (2007).

Hopper, Edward (1882–1967) US realist painter. A pupil of Robert Henri, he was greatly influenced by the Ashcan school. His paintings of scenes in New England and New York City, such as Early Sunday Morning (1930), convey a unique sense of melancholic romanticism.