
Edward Hopper is one of the few artists to have produced a truly landmark piece of American art. His painting "Nighthawks" is one of the most recognizable (and oft-reproduced) pieces of art of the last century. Its lonely depiction of four figures in a restaurant on an anonymous city corner is difficult to forget.
The Life of Edward Hopper
Edward Hopper was born in 1882 in the coastal town of Nyack, New York. Hopper spent his childhood among the shipyards of the Hudson River, and always thought he would grow up to be a naval architect. While this dream didn't pan out, Hopper nonetheless retained a fascination with the sea that is reflected in much of his work as an artist.
In 1899, Hopper entered the New York School of Art to begin his formal training as an ar
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tist. He then spent a year in Paris, returning to the United States in 1907. Hopper wasn't terribly successful with his paintings at first, and he was forced to turn to commercial work to boost his income. This was common for talented artists of the time, who were able to take advantage of new opportunities in local and national product advertising.
Hopper married fellow artist Josephine Nivision in the early 1920s, and it was around this time that his career began to take off. Within a few years, Hopper was known as one of America's foremost realist painters. Most of his major works, including "Nighthawks," can be found in our collection at PosterCheckOut.
Early Life of Edward Hopper
A native of New York, Edward Hopper was born in Nyack, a yacht building on the Hudson River on July 22, 1882. He was considered to be most influential realist painter and printmaker, who left his unique impression on 20th Century’s art world. He was popular for his oil paintings as well as water color paintings. He belonged from a middle-class Dutch family. Father Garret Henry Hopper, a dry-goods merchant, mother Elizabeth Griffiths Smith and only sister Marion. He was raised with good education in private and public schools in a strict conservative family.
He started drawing at a very early age of five years .Since his childhood Edward was a meritorious student. He inherited inclination toward art from his mother and intellectual traits from his father. His parents were supportive for his passion toward painting and ensured good supply of resources to shape up his artistic talents. He was excellent at painting by his teens, till then he already tried his hands on charcoal, watercolor and oil painting. He started learning versatility in art at early stage of his life. At an age of 13, he created his first signed oil painting. Initially he wanted to become Naval Architect, but later he realized his passion toward painting and he opted for art career.
Edward took professional training in oil painting and sketching of live models for six years at New York Institute of Art and design. He sharpened his skills under guidance of various artists who made their unique contribution for shaping up a future artist. Robert Henri as a teacher had a remarkable influence on his paintings as he taught him to give emotions to paintings, which was depicted in his later paintings.
After finishing his studies he grabbed a part time job in an advertising agency in 1905 for cover designs of magazine and since then he continued in this industry until 1920 for his earnings. Although at that duration the art world was going through major changes of new currents and fashion of new form and concepts of art, but Edward found realistic painting to be more appealing.
His career took a turnaround in 1923 when his six water color paintings were exhibited in Brooklyn museum with help of his future wife Josephine Nivision. An artist by profession, Josephine proved to be a big support to bring his career in limelight. Since then there was no looking back in his career. Slowly gradually he invented his own distinctive style of paintings. By 1930’s he was one of the established artist. His most famous creations include Hotel Room (1931), Chop Suey(1929), Automat(1927) and Nighthawks(1942). Edward Hopper’s paintings had composed visual balance with a logical discipline. His work had more inclinations for seascapes and rural subjects. His paintings were known for expressions of regret, solitude, withdrawal, pensiveness and other emotional themes.
Hopper’s career was in boom from 1930s till early 1940s, during this period he had contributed lots of his unforgettable art work. After that he suffered from health problems, despite of his major health troubles he created a lot of art work during 1950s and 1960s.The journey of this great artist ended on 5th May 1967 in his studio near Washington Square in New York City.