American artist Edward Hopper: biography, creativity, paintings and interesting facts

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Each national school of painting can mark several of its best representatives. Just as Russian painting of the 20th century is impossible without Malevich, so is American painting without Edward Hopper. There are no revolutionary ideas and sharp themes in his works, no conflicts and complex plots, but all of them are permeated with a special atmosphere that we are not always able to feel in everyday life. Hopper brought American painting to the world level. His followers were David Lynch and other later artists.

Childhood and youth of the artist

Edward Hopper was born in 1882 in Nuasco. His family had an average income, and therefore was able to provide young Edward with a proper education. After moving to New York in 1899, he studied at the School of Advertising Artists and then entered the prestigious Robert Henry School. Parents strongly supported the young artist and tried to develop his talent.

Trip to Europe

After leaving school, Edward Hopper worked for only a year in a New York advertising agency and already in 1906 went to Europe. This trip was toto open to him already known artists of other schools, to introduce him to Picasso, Manet, Rembrandt, El Greco, Degas and Hals.

Conventionally, all artists who have visited Europe or studied there can be divided into three categories. The former immediately responded to the already existing experience of the great masters and quickly conquered the whole world with their innovative style or the genius of their work. Of course, Picasso belongs to this category to a greater extent. Others, due to their own nature or other reasons, remained unknown, although very talented artists. Still others (which is more applicable to Russian painters) took the acquired experience with them to their homeland and created their best works there.

However, already in this period, the isolation and originality of style in the works of Edward Hopper began to be traced. Unlike all young artists, he is not passionate about any new schools and techniques and takes everything quite calmly. Periodically, he returned to New York, then again went to Paris. Europe has not captured it entirely. However, it would be wrong to assume that such an attitude characterizes Hopper as an infantile or a person unable to fully appreciate the already existing brilliant artistic heritage of other masters. This is precisely the style of the artist Edward Hopper - external calm and tranquility, behind which there is always a deep meaning.

After Europe

As already mentioned, all the works of the masters produced on Edward Hopper bright, butshort-term impression. He quickly became interested in the technique and style of this or that author, but always returned to his own. He was most admired by the paintings of Manet and Degas. It can be said that their styles even echoed. But the works of Picasso, as Hopper himself said, he did not even notice. It is rather difficult to believe in such a fact, because Pablo Picasso was perhaps the most famous among artists. However, the fact remains.

After returning to New York, Hopper never left America.

Starting independent work

Edward Hopper's path, although not filled with drama and sharply dissonant scandals, was still not easy.

In 1913, the artist returned to New York forever, settling in a house in Washington Square. The beginning of his career seems to be going well - the first painting by Edward Hopper was sold in the same 1913. However, this success temporarily ends. Hopper first showed his work at the Armory Show in New York, which was conceived as an exhibition of contemporary art. Here, the style of Edward Hopper played a cruel joke on him - against the backdrop of avant-garde paintings by Picasso, Picabia and other painters, Hopper's paintings looked quite modest and even provincial. His idea was not understood by his contemporaries. The paintings of the artist Edward Hopper were perceived by both critics and viewers as ordinary realism, not carrying any artistic value. This is how the quiet period begins. Hopper is experiencing financial difficulties, so he is forced to take the position of an illustrator.

Until recognition

Experiencing hardshipsposition, Edward Hopper takes on private commissions for commercial publications. For a while, the artist even leaves painting and works in the technique of etching - engraving, which is performed mainly on a metal surface. In the 1910s, it was etching that was most adapted to printing activities. Hopper had never been in the service, so he had to work with great diligence. In addition, this situation also affected his he alth - the artist often fell into severe depression.

Based on this, it can be assumed that Edward Hopper, as a painter, could lose his skills during the years that he did not paint. But, fortunately, this did not happen.

Return after "silence"

Like any talent, Edward Hopper needed help. And in 1920, the artist was lucky enough to meet a certain Gertrude Whitney, a very we althy woman who was very interested in art. She was the daughter of the then famous millionaire Vanderbilt, so she could afford to be a patron of the arts. So, Gertrude Whitney wanted to collect the work of American artists and, of course, help them and provide conditions for their work.

So, in 1920, she organized for Edward Hopper his first exhibition. Now the public reacted to his work with great interest. Edward Hopper's "Evening Wind" and "Night Shadows", as well as some of his etchings, received particular attention.

However, it was not yet a stunning success. And Hopper's financial situation has hardly improved,so he was forced to continue working as an illustrator.

Long-awaited recognition

After several years of "silence" Edward Hopper is returning to painting. He has hope that his talent will be appreciated.

In 1923, Hopper marries Josephine Verstiel, a young artist. Their family life was quite difficult - Jo was jealous of her husband and even forbade him to draw nude female nature. However, such details of personal life are not significant for us. Interestingly, it was Jo who advised Hopper to try his hand at watercolor. And, to be fair, this style led him to success.

The second exhibition was organized at the Brooklyn Museum. Six works by Edward Hopper were presented here. The museum acquired one of the paintings for its exposition. This is the starting point of a creative upsurge in the life of an artist.

Formation of style

It was during the period when Edward Hopper chose watercolor as his main technique that his own style finally crystallized. Hopper's paintings always show completely simple situations - people in their natural form, in ordinary cities. However, behind each such plot lies a subtle psychological picture that reflects deep feelings and states of mind.

For example, "Night Nighters" by artist Edward Hopper at first glance may seem too simple - just a night cafe, a waiter and three visitors. However,This painting has two stories. According to one version, "Night owls" appeared as a result of impressions from Van Gogh's "Night Café in Arles". And according to another version, the plot was a reflection of E. Hemingway's story "The Killers". Filmed in 1946, the film "Killers" is rightfully considered the personification of not only the literary source, but also the style of Hopper's painting. It is important to note that Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks" (referred to as "Midnighters") in many ways influenced the style of another artist - David Lynch.

At the same time, Hopper does not abandon the etching technique either. Although he no longer experienced financial difficulties, he continued to create engravings. Of course, this genre also influenced the master's painting. A peculiar combination of techniques found a place in many of his works.

Recognition

From 1930, Hopper's success becomes irreversible. His works are gaining more and more popularity and are present in the expositions of almost all museums in America. In 1931 alone, about 30 of his paintings were sold. Two years later, the New York Museum hosts his solo exhibition. With the improvement of the material condition, Hopper's style is also transformed. He has the opportunity to travel outside the city and paint landscapes. So, in addition to the city, the artist begins to paint small houses and nature.

Style

In Hopper's works the images seem to freeze, stop. All those details that are impossible to catch in everyday life, to assess their significance, become visible. This partly justifies the interest of directors in films. Hopper. His paintings can be viewed as if the changing frames of the film.

Hopper's realism is very closely intertwined with symbolism. One of the tricks is open windows and doors as a display of ringing loneliness. To some extent, this symbolism reflected the state of mind of the author. The slightly ajar windows of the rooms, the doors to the cafe, where there is only one visitor, show one person among the vast world. Many years spent alone in search of an opportunity to create left their mark on the artist's attitude. And in the paintings, the soul of a person is, as it were, open, on display, but no one notices it.

For an example, you can see Edward Hopper's painting "Reclining nude". The image of a naked girl seems to be saturated with apathy and silence. And the calm color scheme and the unsteadiness of watercolor emphasize this state of bliss and emptiness. A whole plot is being drawn mentally - a young woman in an empty room, immersed in her thoughts. This is another characteristic feature of Hopper's work - the ability to imagine the situation, the circumstances that led the characters to just such an environment.

Glass became another important symbol in the master's paintings. The same "Midnighters" show us the characters through the cafe window. This move can be seen very often in Hopper's work. The loneliness of the characters is also expressed in this way. The inability or inability to start a conversation - this is the glass. It is transparent and sometimes even imperceptible, but still cold and strong. As a kind of barrier that isolates the heroes from the whole world. This can be traced in the paintings “Automatic”, “Morning Sun”, “Office inNew York.”

Modernity

Until the end of his life, Edward Hopper did not stop working. He created his last painting "Comedians" just two years before his death. The artist participated in all the exhibitions of Whitney Hall, a museum created by his patroness, Gertrude Whitney. In 2012, 8 short films dedicated to the artist were released. Anyone who is at least a little familiar with his work will say that "Nighthawks" by the artist Edward Hopper is one of his most famous canvases. Reproductions of his works are now in demand all over the world, and the originals are highly valued. The uniqueness of his talent still managed to break through the avant-garde fashionable at that time, through the critical views of the public, the hardships of an unemployed situation. The paintings of Edward Hopper went down in the history of painting as very subtle psychological works, captivating with their depth and unobtrusiveness.