Edward Hopper
Subtitle: portraits of America
By: Wieland Schmied ; translated from the German by John William Gabriel.
Contributors: Hopper, Edward, 1882-1967.
Series: Pegasus library
Publisher: Prestel
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Munich; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 126
Subjects: Hopper, Edward, 1882-1967 -- Criticism and interpretation.; United States -- In art.
Genres: In art.
Description: Edward Hopper was one of the finest American Scene painters in the Realist tradition. His passion was to portray "typical America"; his city- and landscapes are vivid reflections of the then contemporary American life. Several of his paintings, such as House by the Railroad (1925), Early Sunday Morning (1930), and Nighthawks (1942), have become icons of modern American art. They depict the loneliness, anonymity, and lack of variety in the daily life of ordinary people.

Edward Hopper: Portraits of America examines the apparent dichotomy within Hopper's oeuvre. On the one hand, his compositions depict deserted small towns or solitary figures in empty offices, desolate houses, or hotel rooms. On the other hand, Hopper painted the landscape of New England, where he spent almost every summer with his wife Jo, as bright and tranquil. He seemed to analyze the psychological restrictions and isolation of everyday life as well as the joy and freedom of vacation.

This volume superbly illustrates this dichotomy with full-color reproductions of many of Hopper's most famous compositions. It shows how, by linking fiction and reality, concealment and revelation, Hopper's images evoke an enigmatic uncertainty, which is both mystifying and fascinating.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 114-116).