hopper edward paintings

Nevertheless, his depictions of atomized modern life can help us find the silver linings of isolation. Here’s what we can learn from Hopper during this, incredibly bizarre, quarantine culture.
She began to ask larger life questions; the frightening existential ones we try to not dwell on when scrolling mindlessly through social media or memes of cute cats. Like, what does it mean to be lonely?

When he arrived in 1906, Paris was the artistic center of the Western world; no other city was as important for the development of modern art. The move toward abstract painting was already underway; Cubism had begun. There, in 1907, Picasso painted his legendary Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. Hopper, however, later maintained that when he was in Paris he never heard of Picasso, who was to become so important for the development of modern literature. For Hopper, the encounter with Impressionism was decisive. The light in these paintings and the thematic treatment of architecture and nature particularly attracted him and were to influence all of his work. His reaction to the Impressionists is directly reflected in his own art. He forgot the dark, Old Master-like interiors of his New York student days, when he was influenced mainly by the great European artists – Johannes Vermeer, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, and Diego Velazquez. The influence of Impressionists, such as Monet, Cezanne, and Van Gogh is directly reflected in his own art. His palette lit up and he began to paint with light and quick strokes. Even in 1962, he could say, “I think I’m still an Impressionist.”
In 1933, Edward Hopper received further praises for the works he had done, and for a piece that was on exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. His highly identifiable style, and mature painting styles, were some things he had become known for during this period. The gorgeous landscapes, the quiet rooms and empty rooms he designed, and the transitory effect which many of his works posed, created a sense of contemporary life and a new style, which many in the art world recognized, and many praised him for this distinct style he had created in his art forms.

The best-known of Hopper’s paintings, Nighthawks (1942), is one of his paintings of groups. It shows customers sitting at the counter of an all-night diner. The shapes and diagonals are carefully constructed. The viewpoint is cinematic—from the sidewalk, as if the viewer were approaching the restaurant. The diner’s harsh electric light sets it apart from the dark night outside, enhancing the mood and subtle emotion. [84] As in many Hopper paintings, the interaction is minimal. The restaurant depicted was inspired by one in Greenwich Village. Both Hopper and his wife posed for the figures, and Jo Hopper gave the painting its title. The inspiration for the picture may have come from Ernest Hemingway’s short story “The Killers”, which Hopper greatly admired, [85] or from the more philosophical “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”. [86] In keeping with the title of his painting, Hopper later said, Nighthawks has more to do with the possibility of predators in the night than with loneliness. [87]
Hopper’s influence on the art world and pop culture is undeniable; see § In popular culture for numerous examples. Though he had no formal students, many artists have cited him as an influence, including Willem de Kooning, Jim Dine, and Mark Rothko. [71] An illustration of Hopper’s influence is Rothko’s early work Composition I (c. 1931), which is a direct paraphrase of Hopper’s Chop Suey. [109]

Edward Hopper set up his studio in New York and quickly became recognised as one of the best Realist painters as his canvasses revealed the daily life of his compatriots. His paintings reflect a certain nostalgia for what America was. These notions are set against a backdrop of internal conflict between the characters depicted and the place in which they have found themselves.
Oil painting (80 x 80 cm)

Edward Hopper was born into a middle class family in Nyack, NY, a vibrant hub of transport and industry at the time. The boy was already serious about his artistic ambitions in the age of 10, when he started to sign and date his drawings. Hopper’s parents encouraged him to study commercial illustration instead of fine art. Accordingly, he spent a year at the New York School of Illustration before transferring to the more serious New York School of Art (now Parsons School of Design) to realize his dream. His teachers there included the American Impressionist William Merritt Chase (who founded the school) and Robert Henri, a leading figure of the Ashcan school, whose proponents advocated depicting the grittier side of urban life. Hopper’s classmates at the school included George Bellows and Rockwell Kent.
Hopper’s open-ended narratives have also appealed to writers and musicians. Tom Waits titled an album Nighthawks at the Diner and Madonna named a concert tour after the painting Girlie Show (1941). Joyce Carol Oates refers directly to Hopper in her poem, Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks 1942. Many others have created whole collections of stories or poems using Hopper paintings as starting points.

References:

http://www.edwardhopper.net/
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Hopper
http://www.kazoart.com/blog/en/edward-hopper-in-10-paintings/
http://www.wikiart.org/en/edward-hopper
http://www.dazeddigital.com/art-photography/article/48442/1/how-artist-edward-hopper-became-the-poster-boy-of-quarantine-culture