Product Description

A volume on Edward Hopper, whose images of 20th-century America made him one of our best-known and best-loved artists.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #588888 in Books
• Published on: 1993-09-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 306 pages

From Publishers Weekly
"For all his realism, Hopper was essentially a poet," writes Goodrich, and this sumptuous album, a reissue of an out-of-print 1970 monograph, is an incomparable guide to understanding that poetry. Hopper (1882-1967) gravitated to painting lunch counters, nudes in hotel rooms, lighthouses, gas stations, rooftops--underappreciated, nakedly honest figurations of America's heartland. A prophet of loneliness, this laconic individualist captured the anarchy of American cities, the quiet melancholy of small towns and suburbs. Paradoxically, his pictures have a restorative, bracing effect--perhaps, as is suggested here, because of Hopper's emotional attachment to his native environment. The late Goodrich was director of the Whitney Museum in New York and a friend of the artist, whose own comments are interspersed with a refreshingly readable text and more than 200 full-page plates.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Appealing format, great plates
The long format of this book allows for good reproduction of many of Hopper's landscapes. I have several Hopper books, but this one is by far the most comprehensive and most beautifully printed. This is a wonderful gift for anyone who loves Hopper's work, or for your own art library.

Expression of American Monotonous Suburban Life
I came across Hopper's paintings, when I was doing reproductions of famous artists as my partial work in high school. They immediately caught my attention and excitement, as they had an odd quality, which no other painters had in their work. Vast spaces, empty streets, newly-woke-up ladies in old-fashion motel rooms, extreme light conditions that contradicted the monotonousness in some way... These are some of the major images one is apt to see in Hopper's works.

Hopper's paintings seem to depict the 20s-40s of America, in the context of local towns, cafes, old rooms, within the frame of realism. He's usually painted his figures in an alignment, that does not let us see their faces nor fronts. Instead, the sun has the right to see them, which casts bright light rays into dark rooms.

I think that Hopper seems to be content with the way of living in America, and how people of it carry on their lives. The paintings may indicate some not-so-happy situations, but they do not depict depression. Therefore, I think that Hopper is the best representative of American culture in the early twentieth century in that sense.

I haven't purchased the book yet; but had a chance to look at it in the school's library. The book contains many of his paintings, and Goodrich's comments show some level of apprehension and knowledge of Hopper's work. It is concise and comprehensive, and I recommend it to everybody. Hopper is certainly one of the most affective artists of the twentieth century and all times.

Comprehensive in scope, accurate in plates.
Most comprehensive single volume regarding Hopper and his work, that I am aware of, and the reprints of the work are accurate and true to the originals. A significant book about a significant painter.