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Edward Hopper
 

Edward Hopper (1882-1967) was an American realist painter and printmaker. He is one of America's most renowned artists and known for his skill in capturing American life and landscapes through his art. Born in Nyack, New York, to a middle-class family, Hopper's early exposure to art was nurtured by his parents. He studied at the New York School of Art, where he developed his signature style, characterized by its emphasis on solitude, light, and shadow.In 1923, Hopper had his breakthrough as a painter. He depicted American cities and life in them in a realistic style. Hopper derived his subject matter from two primary sources: one, the common features of American life (gas stations, motels, restaurants, theaters, railroads, and street scenes) and its inhabitants; and two, seascapes and rural landscapes. Regarding his style, Hopper defined himself as "an amalgam of many races" and not a member of any school. Once Hopper achieved his mature style, his art remained consistent and self-contained, in spite of the numerous art trends that came and went during his long career. His pictures often have a melancholic tone, and when people appear in the paintings, they look lonely and lost, as in Night Owls (1942, Art Institute of Chicago). In his paintings of American villages, such as Railroad Crossing (1922-23, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York), the buildings appear as lonely as the people in the big cities. Edward Hopper's pictures are often described as one of the prerequisites for the neorealism of the 1960s in American painting. In 1966, Hopper was awarded The Edward MacDowell Medal by The MacDowell Colony for outstanding contributions to American culture. Hopper died of natural causes in his studio near Washington Square in New York City. Hopper's wife, Josephine, bequeathed their joint collection of over three thousand pieces to the Whitney Museum.

January 10th 2025

 

 
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