Edward Hopper is a poet of empty spaces. Illumination of the exhibition of works by American artist Edward Hopper Childhood and youth of the artist

10.05.16

Illumination of an exhibition of works by the American artist Edward Hopper (1882-1967): semiconductor light sources of the 21st century in a Renaissance palace (Palazzo Fava, Bologna)

Edward Hopper (self-portrait, 1906)

Edward Hopper (1882-1967) prominent spokesman , one of the greatest urbanists of the 20th century. He was called "the poet of empty spaces". The main areas of creativity - "School of trash cans", "Modern art", "New Realism".

March 25, 2016 in Bologna, in the palace "Palazzo Ghisilardi Fava" ("Palazzo Ghisilardi Fava" Bologna) opened a retrospective exhibition of the artist's works, which exhibits 160 of his paintings (the exhibition is open until July 24).

Visitors can also see unique 16th-century frescoes by painters of the Carracci family (Ludovico, Annibale and Agostino). They are considered among the first baroque masterpieces.

The Palazzo Fava was built in the Renaissance style by the architect Gilio Montanari in 1483-1491. for the notary and chancellor Bartolomeo Gisilardi.

Tower of the Consenti ("Torre dei Conoscenti")

It is located on Via Manzoni in Bologna. In the courtyard there is a medieval tower "Torre dei Conoscenti" (XIV century), which was significantly damaged during the earthquake of 1505. The courtyard is surrounded by porticoes with loggias.

During the restoration in 1915, the original look of the 15th century was returned to the palace complex.

Since 2015, the palace has housed the city Museum of the Middle Ages, the halls of which are provided for temporary exhibitions, which, for example, today is a retrospective of works by an American artist Edward Hopper.

In several halls of the palace, frescoes are perfectly preserved, the plots of which illustrate one of the myths of Ancient Greece - the legend of Medea and Jason.

Medea - in ancient Greek mythology, the queen of Colchis, a sorceress and beloved of the Argonaut Jason. Having fallen in love with Jason, she helped him take possession of the Golden Fleece and fled with him from Colchis to Greece. The frescoes were painted in 1594 by Ludovico, Annibale and Agostino Carracci.

Exhibition and exposition lighting

LED lamps are used in the exhibition halls ERCO Logotec and ERCO Pollux, which illuminate the paintings of E. Hopper with a fairly intense directional light.

Some of these lamps are used for less accentuating (both reflected and direct) illumination of the frescoes in the upper zone of the walls.

An unusual technique was also used: "glowing plinths" of reflected light at the junction of walls and floor. They serve to place signs with information about the paintings and - at the same time - for the orientation and safe movement of visitors, they create a low horizontal illumination of the floor (in addition to the light reflected from the paintings).

The works of Edward Hopper (period 1914-1942)

"Road in Maine" (1914)

"Sunset on the Railroad" (1929)

"Attic" (1923)

"Morning Sun" (1930)

"Night Windows" (1928)

"Chinese Stew" (1929)

"Room in New York" (1930)

"Automatic" (1927)

Light, shadows...and human loneliness in Edward Hopper's painting Night Owls (1942, Fine Arts Institute of Chicago)

From March 25 to July 24, 2016 at the Palazzo "Ghisilardi Fava"(Bologna) shows a retrospective exhibition of Edward Hopper (1882-1967) - a prominent representativeAmerican genre painting , one of the greatest urbanists of the 20th century. Among the 160 exhibited works, one of the artist's most famous paintings is of great interest - "Midnighters".

Nighthawks (Night Owls) - this English title of the painting is more expressive than the traditional options - "Night Owls" or "Night Revelers".

The painting is perhaps the most convincing of Hopper's images of human loneliness in megacities and one of the most recognizable works in the history of 20th-century US painting.

After completing the work in 1942, the artist sold the painting for $3,000 to the Art Institute of Chicago, where it remains to this day. AIC - Art Institute of Chicago - art museum and institution of higher education, pc. Illinois.

Hopper's biographer (Gale Levin) believes that the plot may have been inspired by E. Hemingway's short story "The Assassins". It is possible that the artist was influenced by Vincent van Gogh's watercolor "Night Cafe in Arles", 1888, which was exhibited at the New York Gallery of Art in early 1942.

W. Van Gogh "Night Cafe in Arles" (Night Cafe in Arles, 1888)

Edward Hopper. "Nighthawks" (1942)

It is likely that the theme of the painting could also be inspired by the night view of a diner in the Greenwich Village area of ​​Manhattan, next to the artist's house.

And here is what the author himself said about the origin of the idea: “... The plot was prompted to me by the view of the restaurant on Greenwich Avenue, at the intersection of two streets ... I greatly simplified the scene and expanded the space. Probably, with a subconscious eye, I saw the loneliness of people in large cities ... "

Depicting a situation that calls to mind the stories of E. Hemingway, the artist, apparently, relied on screen images in lighting and dividing space ...

However, Hopper does not reveal anything. He simply captures an isolated scene in a momentary frame, leaving the narrative intrigue at the mercy of the viewer's imagination.

A couple of customers on the other side of the bar inevitably conjure up characters from the American cinema of the time. A woman examines her manicure. The man, looking into the void, fingering a cigarette. Their hands almost touch, but Hopper doesn't clarify whether this contact is intentional or accidental.

The bartender is the only character devoid of a living principle, but with his usual "professional", mechanical attention, he will reinforce the impression of the absence of truly human relations.

Shown from the back, a mysterious character in a hat pulled over his face, as if twirling a glass in his hand in thought, is a classic type of "stranger" from Hollywood films ...

According to the visual ratio of brightness on the figure of this character, it can be seen that the light falls on him from above on the right. Cutting the difference in brightness on the figure gives it an additional shade of some tragic loneliness.

The intense radiation of an invisible (but obviously powerful enough) lamp, as it were, enlivens the reflective properties of the inanimate elements of the picture - two shiny metal tanks, a dark brown polished counter, a bright yellow stripe on the wall, smooth leather upholstery of round stools along the bar counter.

This is a subtle, but very important plot detail .... They froze in anticipation ... other visitors, other stories, other secrets lurking in the night ....

It can be said that the bitterness of Hopper's city walls lies precisely in this - in the randomness of meetings, their brevity and the loneliness of destinies, cut off by the frame of an anonymous, monotonous, soulless environment ..

The wide and deserted pavement creates a strange imbalance in the composition, where all the characters are huddled on the right side, finding temporary shelter in a night cafe (or a cheap restaurant).

A vast area of ​​a deserted street evokes a mood of loneliness and restlessness…. The dark windows in the house next door contrast with bright electric lighting cafe, pumping up a feeling of uncommunicativeness and alienation.

Between the dark window of the house opposite and streak of light, discarded by a nameless lantern, the figure of a cashier is barely visible - a wordless, but eloquent image of the inevitable power of money ...

This lantern creates its own play of light and shadow…. The artist uses typical motifs here metaphysical painting.

Metaphysical painting (Italian Pittura metafisica) - a direction in Italian painting of the beginningXX century.

The forefather of this direction isGiorgio de Chirico (1888-1978), who was still inparisin1913 — 1914created deserted urban landscapes that anticipated the future aesthetics of metaphysics. In metaphysical paintingmetaphoranddreambecome the basis for thought to go beyond ordinary logic, andcontrastbetween a realistically accurately depicted object and the strange atmosphere in which it is placed, enhanced the surreal effect.
The Nighthawks painting "Night Owls" or "Night Owls" was probably Hopper's most ambitious work in depicting the night environment of the city in contrast with artificial light.

There is such a catchy painting that catches the viewer instantly. There is no bewilderment, alertness, everything seems to be clear right away, as in love at first sight. It is not surprising that careful scrutiny, reflection and empathy can damage such love. Is it possible to find something deep, solid there, behind the external brilliance? Is not a fact.

Take, for example, the most fashionable for the second hundred years of impressionism. Probably, for today's mass audience there is no more popular trend in the history of painting. However, as an artistic direction, impressionism turned out to be surprisingly transient, having existed in its pure form for a short twenty years. Its founding fathers eventually abandoned their brainchild, feeling the exhaustion of ideas and methods. Renoir returned to the classical forms of Ingres, and Monet stepped forward to abstractionism.

The opposite also happens. The paintings are modest and unpretentious, the motives are ordinary, and the techniques are traditional. Here is a house by the road, here is a girl at the window, but in general a banal gas station. No atmosphere, no lighting effects, no romantic passions. If you shrug your shoulders and move on, then everything will remain so. And if you stop and look, you will find an abyss.

Such is the painting of Edward Hopper, one of the most famous American artists of the twentieth century.

Not noticing Europe

Hopper's biography contains almost no bright events and unexpected turns. He studied, went to Paris, worked, got married, continued to work, received recognition ... No throwing, scandals, divorces, alcoholism, outrageous antics - nothing "fried" for the yellow press. In this, Hopper's life story is similar to his paintings: outwardly everything is simple, even calm, but in the depths there is a dramatic tension.

Already in childhood, he discovered the ability to draw, in which his parents supported him in every possible way. After school, he studied illustration by correspondence for a year, and then entered the prestigious New York Art School. American sources cite a whole list of his famous fellow students, but their names say almost nothing to the Russian audience. With the exception of Rockwell Kent, they all remained artists of national importance.

In 1906, Hopper finished his studies and began working as an illustrator in an advertising agency, but in the fall he went to Europe.

I must say that traveling to Europe was almost an obligatory part of professional education for American artists. At that time, the star of Paris was shining brightly, and young and ambitious people were drawn there from all over the world to join the latest achievements and trends in world painting.

It is surprising how different the consequences of this brewing in an international cauldron. Some, like the Spaniard Picasso, quickly turned from students into leaders and themselves became trendsetters in artistic fashion. Others always remained imitators, however talented, like Mary Cassatt and James Abbot McNeil Whistler. Still others, such as Russian artists, returned to their homeland, infected and charged with the spirit of the new art, and already at home they paved the way from the backyards of world painting to its avant-garde.

Hopper was the most original of all. He traveled around Europe, was in Paris, London, Amsterdam, returned to New York, again traveled to Paris and Spain, spent time in European museums and met European artists ... But, apart from short-term influences, his painting does not reveal anything familiarity with modern trends. Nothing at all, even the palette just barely brightened up!

He appreciated Rembrandt and Hals, later - El Greco, from the masters close in time - Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas, who had already become classics by that time. As for Picasso, Hopper quite seriously claimed that he had not heard his name while in Paris.

It's hard to believe, but the fact remains. The post-impressionists had just passed away, the fauvists and cubists were already breaking their spears, futurism loomed on the horizon, painting broke away from the image of the visible and focused on the problems and limitations of the picture plane, Picasso and Matisse shone. But Hopper, being in the thick of things, didn't seem to see it.

And after 1910 he never crossed the Atlantic, even when his paintings were exhibited in the American pavilion of the prestigious Venice Biennale.

Artist at work

In 1913, Hopper settled in New York on Washington Square, where he lived and worked for more than fifty years - until the end of his days. In the same year, he sold his first painting, exhibited at the famous Armory Show in New York. It seemed that the career begins promisingly and success is not far off.

It didn't turn out so rosy. The Armory Show was conceived as the first contemporary art exhibition in the United States and as such was a resounding success. She turned the eyes of amateurs, critics and artists away from realism and turned them towards the avant-garde, although accompanied by ridicule and scandals. Against the background of Duchamp, Picasso, Picabia, Brancusi, Braque, Hopper's realism looked provincial and outdated. America decided that it was necessary to catch up with Europe, wealthy collectors became interested in overseas art, and single sales of domestic works did not make a difference.

Hopper worked as a commercial illustrator for many years. He even abandoned painting and devoted himself to etching, a technique at that time more suitable for printing reproduction. He was not in the service, worked part-time with magazine orders and experienced all the hardships of this position, at times even falling into depression.

However, in what was then New York, there was a patroness of the arts who decided to collect the works of American artists specifically - Gertrude Whitney, daughter of the millionaire Vanderbilt; by the way, the one with whom the cannibal Ellochka unsuccessfully competed, bartering a tea strainer from Ostap Bender for one of the twelve chairs.

Night shadows.

Subsequently, Whitney tried to donate her collection of contemporary American artists to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but his management did not consider the gift worthy. The rejected collector, in retaliation, founded her own museum nearby, which is still considered the best museum of American art.

Evening wind. 1921 Museum of American Art, New York

But that's in the future. While Hopper was visiting the Whitney Studio, where in 1920 he had his first solo exhibition - 16 paintings. Some of his etchings also attracted the attention of the public, in particular "Night Shadows" and "Evening Wind". But he could not yet become a freelance artist and continued to earn money by illustration.

Family and recognition

In 1923, Hopper met his future wife Josephine. Their family turned out to be strong, but family life was not easy. Jo forbade her husband to paint nudes and, if necessary, posed for herself. Edward was jealous of her even for the cat. Everything was aggravated by his taciturnity and gloomy character. “Sometimes talking to Eddie was like throwing a stone down a well. With one exception: the sound of falling into the water could not be heard, ”she admitted.

Edward and Joe Hopper. 1933

Nevertheless, it was Jo who reminded Hopper of the possibilities of watercolor, and he returned to this technique. He soon exhibited six works at the Brooklyn Museum, and one of them was bought by the museum for $100. Critics reacted kindly to the exhibition and noted the vitality and expressiveness of Hopper's watercolors, even with the most modest subjects. This combination of external restraint and expressive depth would become Hopper's trademark for the rest of the years.

In 1927, Hopper sold the painting "Two in the Auditorium" for $1,500, and the couple got their first car with this money. The artist got the opportunity to go on sketches, and rural provincial America for a long time became one of the main motives for his painting.

Two in the auditorium. 1927. Museum of Art, Toledo

In 1930 another important event took place in the life of the artist. Philanthropist Stephen Clark donated his painting "Railway House" to New York's Museum of Modern Art, and it has hung prominently there ever since.

So, shortly before his fiftieth birthday, Hopper entered the time of recognition. In 1931 he sold 30 works, including 13 watercolors. In 1932 he took part in the first regular exhibition of the Whitney Museum and did not miss the next until his death. In 1933, in honor of the artist's anniversary, the Museum of Modern Art presented a retrospective of his work.

For the next thirty years of his life, Hopper worked fruitfully, despite health problems that arose in old age. Jo survived him by ten months and bequeathed the entire family collection to the Whitney Museum.

Midnighters. 1942. Art Institute, Chicago

In the years of maturity, the artist created many recognized masterpieces, such as "Early Sunday Morning", "Night Owls", "Office in New York", "People in the Sun". During this time, he received many awards, traveled to Canada and Mexico, was presented at several retrospective and solo exhibitions.

Surveillance Protection

It cannot be said that all these years his painting did not develop. Nevertheless, Hopper found his favorite themes and images early, and if anything has changed, it is the credibility of their embodiment.

If one were to find a short formula for Hopper's work, it would be "alienation and isolation." Where are his characters going? Why are they frozen in the middle of the day? What prevents them from starting a dialogue, reaching out to each other, calling out and responding? There is no answer, and, to be honest, there are almost no questions, at least for them. This is how they are, this is the life, this is the world that separates people with invisible barriers.

This invisibility of barriers seriously worried Hopper, which is why there are so many windows in his paintings. Glass is a visual link, but a physical barrier. His heroes and heroines, seen from the street, seem to be open to the world, but in fact they are closed, immersed in themselves - take a look at Night Owls or The Office in New York. Such duality gives rise to a poignant combination of fragile vulnerability and stubborn inaccessibility, even impregnability.

If, on the contrary, we, together with the characters, look out through the glass, then the window again deceives, only teasing with the possibility of seeing something. At best, the outside world is only indicated by an array of trees or buildings, and often nothing is visible in the window, as, for example, in “Evening Wind” or in the painting “Automat”.

automat. 1927. Arts Center, Des Moines. USA

In general, Hopper's windows and doors are characterized by the same combination of openness and closeness as for animated characters. Slightly ajar sashes, swaying curtains, closed blinds, half-closed doors roam from picture to picture.

Transparent is impenetrable, and what should unite separates. Hence the constant feeling of mystery, understatement, failed contact.

Loneliness among people, in a big city, in front of everyone, has become a cross-cutting theme of the art of the 20th century, only here, with Hopper, it’s not the loneliness where they run from, but where they are saved. The closeness of his characters is felt as a natural form of self-defense, and not as a whim or trait of character. The light pouring on them is painfully merciless and they are too openly put on public display, and some kind of indifferent threat lurks in the world around them. Therefore, instead of external barriers, it is necessary to build internal ones.

Of course, if the walls in the office are destroyed, then work efficiency will increase, because in front of each other, and even more so of the boss, people are less distracted and chatting. But when everyone is under surveillance, communication stops and silence becomes the only form of defense. The heroes are restrained, instincts are suppressed, passions are driven deep - civilized, cultured people in the protective armor of external propriety.

Attention beyond

Very often, Hopper's paintings give the impression of a stopped moment. And this despite the fact that in the picture itself the movement is not indicated at all. But it is perceived as a film frame that has just replaced the previous one and is ready to give way to the next. It is no coincidence that Hopper was so appreciated by American filmmakers, in particular Hitchcock, and Hollywood standards for framing a frame were largely formed taking into account his influence.

It was natural for the artist to direct the viewer's attention not so much to the depicted moment as to the imaginary events that preceded or followed it. This skill, rare in the history of painting, paradoxically combined the achievements of impressionism, with its heightened attention to the moment, and post-impressionism, which wanted to compress the passage of time into a momentary artistic image.

Hopper really succeeded in firmly pinning an elusive moment of being to the canvas and at the same time hinting at the incessant flow of time that brought him to the surface and immediately takes him into the dark depths of the past. If futurism tried to depict movement directly on the picturesque plane, then Hopper takes it out of the boundaries of painting, but leaves it within the limits of our perception. We don't see it, but we feel it.

In the same way, the artist manages to redirect our attention beyond the picture, not only in time, but also in space. The characters look somewhere outside, the highway flying past the gas station draws the viewer's eye there, and on the railway the eye manages to catch only the last car of the train. And more often he is no longer there, the train rushed by, and we involuntarily and unsuccessfully slip out with our eyes after him along the rails.

This is America as it is - no longing for the lost, no glorification of progress. But if it were only America, then Hopper would not have fallen to the lot of world fame, just as many of his contemporaries of no worse skill did not get it. In fact, Hopper managed to touch upon universal feelings, using national material. He paved the way for the international recognition of American painting, although it was brought to the leading roles in world art by post-war artists who were not recognized by Hopper himself.

His path is unique. In the turbulent world of vibrant artistic movements, he managed not to succumb to anyone's influence and to walk along the narrow path between romanticism and social criticism, between the avant-garde obsession with concepts and the deliberate naturalism of precisionism and hyperrealism, remaining true to himself to the end.

Edward Hopper (Edward Hopper) art historians give different names. “Artist of empty spaces”, “poet of the era”, “gloomy socialist realist”. But whatever name you choose, it does not change the essence: Hopper is one of the brightest representatives of American painting, whose work cannot leave anyone indifferent.

Gas station, 1940

The American creative method took shape during the Great Depression in the United States. Various researchers of Hopper's work tend to find in his works echoes with the writers Tennessee Williams, Theodore Dreiser, Robert Frost, Jerome Salinger, with the artists DeKirko and Delvo, later they begin to see a reflection of his work in the film works of David Lynch ...

It is not known for certain whether any of these comparisons have a real basis, but one thing is clear: Edward Hopper very subtly managed to depict the spirit of the time, conveying it in the poses of heroes, in the empty spaces of his canvases, in a unique color scheme.

This is referred to as representatives of magical realism. Indeed, his characters, the environment in which he places them, is utterly simple in everyday terms. Nevertheless, his canvases always reflect some kind of understatement, always reflect a hidden conflict, give rise to a variety of interpretations. Reaching, sometimes, to the point of absurdity. For example, his painting "Night Conference" was returned by the collector to the seller, because he saw in it a hidden communist conspiracy.

Evening meeting, 1949

Hopper's most famous painting is Night Owls. At one time, its reproduction hung in the room of almost every American teenager. The plot of the picture is extremely simple: in the window of a night cafe, three visitors are sitting at the bar counter, they are served by a bartender. It would seem that nothing remarkable, but anyone who looks at the picture of an American artist, almost physically feels the transcendent, aching feeling of the loneliness of a person in a big city.

Midnighters, 1942

Hopper's magical realism was not accepted by his contemporaries at the time. With a general trend towards more “interesting” methods - cubism, surrealism, abstractionism - his paintings seemed boring and inexpressive.
“They never understand Hopper said, that the originality of the artist is not a fashionable method. This is the quintessence of his personality.”

Today, his work is considered not just a milestone in American fine art, but a collective image, the spirit of his time. One of his biographers once wrote: “Descendants will learn more about that time from the paintings of Edward Hopper than from any textbook.” And, perhaps, in a sense, he is right.

There is such a catchy painting that catches the viewer instantly. There is no bewilderment, alertness, everything seems to be clear right away, as in love at first sight. It is not surprising that careful scrutiny, reflection and empathy can damage such love. Is it possible to find something deep, solid there, behind the external brilliance? Is not a fact.

Take, for example, the most fashionable for the second hundred years of impressionism. Probably, for today's mass audience there is no more popular trend in the history of painting. However, as an artistic direction, impressionism turned out to be surprisingly transient, having existed in its pure form for a short twenty years. Its founding fathers eventually abandoned their brainchild, feeling the exhaustion of ideas and methods. Renoir returned to the classical forms of Ingres, and Monet stepped forward to abstractionism.

The opposite also happens. The paintings are modest and unpretentious, the motives are ordinary, and the techniques are traditional. Here is a house by the road, here is a girl at the window, but in general a banal gas station. No atmosphere, no lighting effects, no romantic passions. If you shrug your shoulders and move on, then everything will remain so. And if you stop and look, you will find an abyss.

Such is the painting of Edward Hopper, one of the most famous American artists of the twentieth century.

Not noticing Europe

Hopper's biography contains almost no bright events and unexpected turns. He studied, went to Paris, worked, got married, continued to work, received recognition ... No throwing, scandals, divorces, alcoholism, outrageous antics - nothing "fried" for the yellow press. In this, Hopper's life story is similar to his paintings: outwardly everything is simple, even calm, but in the depths there is a dramatic tension.

Already in childhood, he discovered the ability to draw, in which his parents supported him in every possible way. After school, he studied illustration by correspondence for a year, and then entered the prestigious New York Art School. American sources cite a whole list of his famous fellow students, but their names say almost nothing to the Russian audience. With the exception of Rockwell Kent, they all remained artists of national importance.

In 1906, Hopper finished his studies and began working as an illustrator in an advertising agency, but in the fall he went to Europe.

I must say that traveling to Europe was almost an obligatory part of professional education for American artists. At that time, the star of Paris was shining brightly, and young and ambitious people were drawn there from all over the world to join the latest achievements and trends in world painting.

It is surprising how different the consequences of this brewing in an international cauldron. Some, like the Spaniard Picasso, quickly turned from students into leaders and themselves became trendsetters in artistic fashion. Others always remained imitators, however talented, like Mary Cassatt and James Abbot McNeil Whistler. Still others, such as Russian artists, returned to their homeland, infected and charged with the spirit of the new art, and already at home they paved the way from the backyards of world painting to its avant-garde.

Hopper was the most original of all. He traveled around Europe, was in Paris, London, Amsterdam, returned to New York, again traveled to Paris and Spain, spent time in European museums and met European artists ... But, apart from short-term influences, his painting does not reveal anything familiarity with modern trends. Nothing at all, even the palette just barely brightened up!

He appreciated Rembrandt and Hals, later - El Greco, from the masters close in time - Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas, who had already become classics by that time. As for Picasso, Hopper quite seriously claimed that he had not heard his name while in Paris.

It's hard to believe, but the fact remains. The post-impressionists had just passed away, the fauvists and cubists were already breaking their spears, futurism loomed on the horizon, painting broke away from the image of the visible and focused on the problems and limitations of the picture plane, Picasso and Matisse shone. But Hopper, being in the thick of things, didn't seem to see it.

And after 1910 he never crossed the Atlantic, even when his paintings were exhibited in the American pavilion of the prestigious Venice Biennale.

Artist at work

In 1913, Hopper settled in New York on Washington Square, where he lived and worked for more than fifty years - until the end of his days. In the same year, he sold his first painting, exhibited at the famous Armory Show in New York. It seemed that the career begins promisingly and success is not far off.

It didn't turn out so rosy. The Armory Show was conceived as the first contemporary art exhibition in the United States and as such was a resounding success. She turned the eyes of amateurs, critics and artists away from realism and turned them towards the avant-garde, although accompanied by ridicule and scandals. Against the background of Duchamp, Picasso, Picabia, Brancusi, Braque, Hopper's realism looked provincial and outdated. America decided that it was necessary to catch up with Europe, wealthy collectors became interested in overseas art, and single sales of domestic works did not make a difference.

Hopper worked as a commercial illustrator for many years. He even abandoned painting and devoted himself to etching, a technique at that time more suitable for printing reproduction. He was not in the service, worked part-time with magazine orders and experienced all the hardships of this position, at times even falling into depression.

However, in what was then New York, there was a patroness of the arts who decided to collect the works of American artists specifically - Gertrude Whitney, daughter of the millionaire Vanderbilt; by the way, the one with whom the cannibal Ellochka unsuccessfully competed, bartering a tea strainer from Ostap Bender for one of the twelve chairs.

Night shadows.

Subsequently, Whitney tried to donate her collection of contemporary American artists to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but his management did not consider the gift worthy. The rejected collector, in retaliation, founded her own museum nearby, which is still considered the best museum of American art.

Evening wind. 1921 Museum of American Art, New York

But that's in the future. While Hopper was visiting the Whitney Studio, where in 1920 he had his first solo exhibition - 16 paintings. Some of his etchings also attracted the attention of the public, in particular "Night Shadows" and "Evening Wind". But he could not yet become a freelance artist and continued to earn money by illustration.

Family and recognition

In 1923, Hopper met his future wife Josephine. Their family turned out to be strong, but family life was not easy. Jo forbade her husband to paint nudes and, if necessary, posed for herself. Edward was jealous of her even for the cat. Everything was aggravated by his taciturnity and gloomy character. “Sometimes talking to Eddie was like throwing a stone down a well. With one exception: the sound of falling into the water could not be heard, ”she admitted.

Edward and Joe Hopper. 1933

Nevertheless, it was Jo who reminded Hopper of the possibilities of watercolor, and he returned to this technique. He soon exhibited six works at the Brooklyn Museum, and one of them was bought by the museum for $100. Critics reacted kindly to the exhibition and noted the vitality and expressiveness of Hopper's watercolors, even with the most modest subjects. This combination of external restraint and expressive depth would become Hopper's trademark for the rest of the years.

In 1927, Hopper sold the painting "Two in the Auditorium" for $1,500, and the couple got their first car with this money. The artist got the opportunity to go on sketches, and rural provincial America for a long time became one of the main motives for his painting.

Two in the auditorium. 1927. Museum of Art, Toledo

In 1930 another important event took place in the life of the artist. Philanthropist Stephen Clark donated his painting "Railway House" to New York's Museum of Modern Art, and it has hung prominently there ever since.

So, shortly before his fiftieth birthday, Hopper entered the time of recognition. In 1931 he sold 30 works, including 13 watercolors. In 1932 he took part in the first regular exhibition of the Whitney Museum and did not miss the next until his death. In 1933, in honor of the artist's anniversary, the Museum of Modern Art presented a retrospective of his work.

For the next thirty years of his life, Hopper worked fruitfully, despite health problems that arose in old age. Jo survived him by ten months and bequeathed the entire family collection to the Whitney Museum.

Midnighters. 1942. Art Institute, Chicago

In the years of maturity, the artist created many recognized masterpieces, such as "Early Sunday Morning", "Night Owls", "Office in New York", "People in the Sun". During this time, he received many awards, traveled to Canada and Mexico, was presented at several retrospective and solo exhibitions.

Surveillance Protection

It cannot be said that all these years his painting did not develop. Nevertheless, Hopper found his favorite themes and images early, and if anything has changed, it is the credibility of their embodiment.

If one were to find a short formula for Hopper's work, it would be "alienation and isolation." Where are his characters going? Why are they frozen in the middle of the day? What prevents them from starting a dialogue, reaching out to each other, calling out and responding? There is no answer, and, to be honest, there are almost no questions, at least for them. This is how they are, this is the life, this is the world that separates people with invisible barriers.

This invisibility of barriers seriously worried Hopper, which is why there are so many windows in his paintings. Glass is a visual link, but a physical barrier. His heroes and heroines, seen from the street, seem to be open to the world, but in fact they are closed, immersed in themselves - take a look at Night Owls or The Office in New York. Such duality gives rise to a poignant combination of fragile vulnerability and stubborn inaccessibility, even impregnability.

If, on the contrary, we, together with the characters, look out through the glass, then the window again deceives, only teasing with the possibility of seeing something. At best, the outside world is only indicated by an array of trees or buildings, and often nothing is visible in the window, as, for example, in “Evening Wind” or in the painting “Automat”.

automat. 1927. Arts Center, Des Moines. USA

In general, Hopper's windows and doors are characterized by the same combination of openness and closeness as for animated characters. Slightly ajar sashes, swaying curtains, closed blinds, half-closed doors roam from picture to picture.

Transparent is impenetrable, and what should unite separates. Hence the constant feeling of mystery, understatement, failed contact.

Loneliness among people, in a big city, in front of everyone, has become a cross-cutting theme of the art of the 20th century, only here, with Hopper, it’s not the loneliness where they run from, but where they are saved. The closeness of his characters is felt as a natural form of self-defense, and not as a whim or trait of character. The light pouring on them is painfully merciless and they are too openly put on public display, and some kind of indifferent threat lurks in the world around them. Therefore, instead of external barriers, it is necessary to build internal ones.

Of course, if the walls in the office are destroyed, then work efficiency will increase, because in front of each other, and even more so of the boss, people are less distracted and chatting. But when everyone is under surveillance, communication stops and silence becomes the only form of defense. The heroes are restrained, instincts are suppressed, passions are driven deep - civilized, cultured people in the protective armor of external propriety.

Attention beyond

Very often, Hopper's paintings give the impression of a stopped moment. And this despite the fact that in the picture itself the movement is not indicated at all. But it is perceived as a film frame that has just replaced the previous one and is ready to give way to the next. It is no coincidence that Hopper was so appreciated by American filmmakers, in particular Hitchcock, and Hollywood standards for framing a frame were largely formed taking into account his influence.

It was natural for the artist to direct the viewer's attention not so much to the depicted moment as to the imaginary events that preceded or followed it. This skill, rare in the history of painting, paradoxically combined the achievements of impressionism, with its heightened attention to the moment, and post-impressionism, which wanted to compress the passage of time into a momentary artistic image.

Hopper really succeeded in firmly pinning an elusive moment of being to the canvas and at the same time hinting at the incessant flow of time that brought him to the surface and immediately takes him into the dark depths of the past. If futurism tried to depict movement directly on the picturesque plane, then Hopper takes it out of the boundaries of painting, but leaves it within the limits of our perception. We don't see it, but we feel it.

In the same way, the artist manages to redirect our attention beyond the picture, not only in time, but also in space. The characters look somewhere outside, the highway flying past the gas station draws the viewer's eye there, and on the railway the eye manages to catch only the last car of the train. And more often he is no longer there, the train rushed by, and we involuntarily and unsuccessfully slip out with our eyes after him along the rails.

This is America as it is - no longing for the lost, no glorification of progress. But if it were only America, then Hopper would not have fallen to the lot of world fame, just as many of his contemporaries of no worse skill did not get it. In fact, Hopper managed to touch upon universal feelings, using national material. He paved the way for the international recognition of American painting, although it was brought to the leading roles in world art by post-war artists who were not recognized by Hopper himself.

His path is unique. In the turbulent world of vibrant artistic movements, he managed not to succumb to anyone's influence and to walk along the narrow path between romanticism and social criticism, between the avant-garde obsession with concepts and the deliberate naturalism of precisionism and hyperrealism, remaining true to himself to the end.

Hopper, Edward (1882 - 1967)

Hopper, Edward

Edward Hopper was born July 22, 1882. He was the second child of Garret Henry Hopper and Elizabeth Griffith Smith. After the marriage, the young couple settles in Nyack, a small but prosperous port near New York, not far from Elizabeth's widowed mother. There, the Baptist couple Hoppers will raise their children: Marion, born in 1880, and Edward. Either due to the natural inclination of character, or due to strict upbringing, Edward will grow up silent and withdrawn. Whenever possible, he will prefer to retire.

Childhood of the artist

Parents, and especially the mother, sought to give their children a good education. Trying to develop the creative abilities of her children, Elizabeth dips them into the world of books, theater and arts. With its help, theatrical performances and cultural conversations were organized. Brother and sister spent a lot of time reading in their father's library. Edward gets acquainted with the works of American classics, reads translated by Russian and French writers.

Young Hopper very early began to be interested in painting and drawing. He educated himself by copying the illustrations of Phil May and the French draftsman Gustave Doré (1832-1883). Edward will be the author of the first independent works at the age of ten.

From the windows of his native house, located on a hill, the boy admires the ships and sailboats floating in Hudson Bay. The seascape will remain a source of inspiration for him for the rest of his life - the artist will never forget the view of the US East Coast, often returning to it in his works. At the age of fifteen, he will construct a sailboat with his own hands from parts provided by his father.

After studying at a private school, Edward entered Nyack High School, graduating in 1899. Hopper is seventeen years old, and he has one burning desire - to become an artist. Parents, who have always supported their son's creative endeavors, are even pleased with his decision. They recommend starting with graphic arts, or better yet, drawing. Following their advice, Hopper first enrolled at the Correspondence School of Illustration in New York to train as an illustrator. Then in 1900 he entered the New York School of Art, which was popularly called the Chase School, where he would study until 1906. His teacher there will be Professor Robert Henry (1865-1929), a painter whose work was dominated by portraits. Edward was a diligent student. Thanks to his talent, he received many scholarships and awards. In 1904, The Sketch book published an article about the activities of Chase School. The text was illustrated with Hopper's work depicting a model. However, the artist will have to wait many more years before he tastes success and fame.

The irresistible charm of Paris

In 1906, after leaving school, Hopper got a job at the C.C. Philips and Company advertising agency. This lucrative position does not satisfy his creative ambitions, but allows him to feed himself. In October of the same year, the artist, on the advice of his teacher, decides to visit Paris. A great admirer of Degas, Manet, Rembrandt and Goya, Robert Henri sends Hopper to Europe to enrich his store of impressions and get acquainted with European art in detail.

Hopper would stay in Paris until August 1907. It immediately lends itself to the charm of the French capital. The artist would later write: "Paris is a beautiful, elegant city, and even too decent and calm in comparison with the terribly noisy New York." Edward Hopper is twenty years old, and he continues his education on the European continent, visiting museums, galleries and art salons. Before returning to New York on August 21, 1907, he makes several voyages through Europe. First, the artist comes to London, which he remembers as a city "sad and sad"; there he gets acquainted with the works of Turner in the National Gallery. Then Hopper goes to Amsterdam and Harlem, where he discovers with excitement Vermeer, Hals and Rembrandt. At the end he visits Berlin and Brussels.

After returning to his hometown, Hopper again works as an illustrator, and a year later he goes to Paris. This time, he is given endless pleasure by working in the open air. Following in the footsteps of the Impressionists, he paints the banks of the Seine at Charenton and Saint-Cloud. Bad weather entrenched in France forces Hopper to end his journey. He returned to New York, where in August 1909 he exhibited his paintings for the first time as part of the Exhibition of Independent Artists, organized with the assistance of John Sloan (1871-1951) and Robert Henry. Inspired by his creative accomplishments, Hopper would visit Europe for the last time in 1910. The artist will spend a few May weeks in Paris, then to go to Madrid. There he will be more impressed by the bullfight than by the Spanish artists, whom he will not mention a word later. Before returning to New York, Hopper stays in Toledo, which he describes as "a wonderful old city". The artist will never again come to Europe, but he will remain impressed by these travels for a long time, admitting later: “After this return, everything seemed too ordinary and terrible to me.”

Difficult start

The return to American reality is difficult. Hopper is desperately short of funds. Suppressing his dislike for the work of an illustrator, forced to earn a living, the artist returns to it again. He works in advertising and for periodicals such as Sandy Megezine, Metropolitan Megezine and System: Megezine of Business. However, Hopper devotes every free minute to painting. “I never wanted to work more than three days a week,” he would later say. “I saved time for my creativity, illustrating depressed me.”

Hopper persists in painting, which is still his true passion. But success never comes. In 1912, the artist presents his Parisian paintings at a collective exhibition at the McDowell Club in New York (from now on he will exhibit here regularly, until 1918). Hopper spends his holidays in Gloucester, a small town on the coast of Massachusetts. In the company of his friend Leon Kroll, he returns to childhood memories, drawing the sea and ships that always enchant him.

In 1913, the artist's efforts are finally beginning to bear fruit. Invited by the National Electoral Commission to take part in the New York Armory Show in February, Hopper is selling his first painting. The euphoria of success quickly fades, as this sale will not be followed by others. In December, the artist settles at 3 Washington Square North, New York, where he will live for more than half a century, until his death.

The following years were very difficult for the artist. He does not manage to live on the income from the sale of paintings. Therefore, Hopper continued to practice illustration, often for a meager salary. In 1915, Hopper exhibited two of his canvases, including Blue Evening, at the McDowell Club, and critics finally noticed him. However, his personal exhibition, which will be held at the Whitney Studio Club, he will wait until February 1920. At that time, Hopper was thirty-seven years old.

Encouraged by success in the field of painting, the artist experiments with other techniques. One of his etchings will receive many different prizes in 1923. Hopper also tries his hand at watercolor painting.

The artist spends his summers in Gloucester, where he never stops painting landscapes and architecture. He works on a big rise, he is driven by love. Josephine Versteel Nivison, whom the artist met for the first time at the New York Academy of Fine Arts, spends her holidays in the same region and wins the artist's heart.

Finally recognition!

Doubting Hopper's great talent, Josephine inspires him to participate in an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum. The watercolors the artist displays there bring him considerable success, and Hopper revels in the growing recognition. Their romance with Joe develops, they discover more and more common ground. Both love theater, poetry, travel and Europe. Hopper is distinguished during this period simply by an insatiable curiosity. He loves American and foreign literature and can even recite Goethe's poems by heart in the original language. Sometimes he composes his letters to his beloved Jo in French. Hopper is a great connoisseur of cinema, especially black and white American cinema, whose influence can be clearly seen in his work. Fascinated by this quiet and calm man with a personable appearance and intelligent eyes, energetic and full of life Jo marries Edward Hopper on July 9, 1924. The wedding took place at the Evangelical Church in Greenwich Village.

1924 is a year of success for the artist. After the wedding, the happy Hopper exhibits watercolors at Frank Ren Gallery. All works were sold out right from the exhibition. Hopper, who has waited for recognition, is finally able to quit the illustrator's work that has set his teeth on edge and do his favorite work.

Hopper is rapidly becoming a "fashionable" artist. Now he can "pay the bills". Elected as a member of the National Academy of Design, he refuses to accept this title, as in the past the Academy did not accept his work. The artist does not forget those who offended him, just as he remembers with gratitude those who helped and trusted him. Hopper will be "faithful" to Frank Ren Gelery and the Whitney Museum all his life, to whom he bequeaths his works.

Years of recognition and glory

After 1925, Hopper's life stabilized. The artist lives in New York and spends every summer on the coast of New England. In early November 1933, the Museum of Modern Art in New York hosted the first retrospective exhibition of his works. The following year, the Hoppers build a workshop house in Truro Sauce where they will spend their holidays. The artist jokingly calls the house a "chicken coop".

However, the spouses' attachment to this house does not prevent them from traveling. When Hopper lacks creative inspiration, the couple go out into the world. So, in the years 1943-1955 they visit Mexico five times, and also spend a long time traveling around the United States. In 1941 they drive across half of America, visiting Colorado, Utah, the Nevada desert, California and Wyoming.

Edward and Joe live exemplary and in perfect harmony with each other, but some kind of rivalry casts a shadow over their union. Jo, who was also an artist, suffers silently in the shadow of her husband's fame. Since the beginning of the thirties, Edward has become a world famous artist; the number of his exhibitions is growing, and numerous awards and prizes do not bypass him. Hopper was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1945. This institution in 1955 awards him a gold medal for services in the field of painting. The second retrospective of Hopper's paintings is held at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1950 (this museum will host the artist twice more: in 1964 and 1970). In 1952, Hopper and three other artists were selected to represent the United States at the Venice Biennale. In 1953, Hopper, along with other artists - representatives of figurative painting, takes part in editing the review "Reality". Taking this opportunity, he protests against the dominance of abstract artists within the walls of the Whitney Museum.

In 1964, Hopper begins to get sick. The artist is eighty-two years old. Despite the difficulties with which painting is given to him, in 1965 he creates two, which became the last, works. These pictures were painted in memory of the sister who died this year. Edward Hopper dies on May 15, 1967 at the age of eighty-five in his Washington Square studio. Shortly before that, he received international recognition as a representative of American painting at the Biennale in Sao Paulo. The transfer of the entire creative heritage of Edward Hopper to the Whitney Museum, where most of his works can be seen today, will be made by the artist's wife Jo, who will leave this world a year after him.