Edward Hopper

EdwardHopperisasquintessentiallyAmericanasJacksonPollockorAndyWarhol.Likethem,hisimageryhasreachedfarbeyondtherealmofarttoimpactonourcultureinthebroadestterms,sothatweseeearlytwentieth-centuryAmericathroughhiswork,asmuchaswithinit.thepainterCharlesBurchfieldattributedHopperssuccesstohisboldindividualism,declaringthatinhimwehaveregainedthatsturdyAmericanindependencewhichThomasEakinsgaveus.Hoppersartwasprofoundlyofitstime,bothinitsexpressionofthesubtlemelancholiesofmodernlifeandinitsdeeplycinematicqualitiesperhapsHoppersgreatestgiftwashistreatmentoflighttowhichdirectorsfromAlfredHitchcocktoWimWendershavepaidhomage.ThisvolumepresentsadefinitiveHoppermonograph.PublishedforamassiveretrospectiveattheMuseoThyssen-BornemiszainMadrid,andtheGrandPalaisinParis,itapproachesHoppersrelativelysmalloeuvreintwosections.Thefirstcoverstheartistsformativeyearsfromapproximately1900to1924,examiningaselectionofsketches,paintings,drawings,illustrations,printsandwatercolours,whichareconsideredalongsideworksbypaintersthatinfluencedHopper,suchasWinslowHomer,RobertHenri,JohnSloan,EdgarDegasandWalterSickert.Thesecondsectionconsiderstheyearsfrom1925onwards,addressinghismatureoutputthroughchronologicalbutthematicgroupings.Comprehensiveinitsscope,withawealthofcolourreproductions,Hopperisthelastwordontheartist.