Edward Hopper for Summer Viewing

Edward Hopper's self-portrait painted in the years 1925-1930. He stood almost 6 ft. 5 inches tall, towering over most of his fellow students and colleagues. He studed with Robert Henri, as did my mentor Harold Irving Smith, began his career as an illustrator but unlike Harold and John La Gatta, could not draw pretty girs. So said his wife, Josephine, "Jo," Verstille Nivison, quoted in Gail Levin's excellent Edward Hopper as Illustrator, published by Norton, 1979.

There's so much material on Edward Hopper, the search should be the equivalent of summer reading for you, particularly if you take your laptop with you on vacation. While the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is promoting a large show of his paintings until 19 August, you can Google your way to information overload by searching Edward Hopper. I particularly recommend the Smithsonian Institution's An Edward Hopper Scrapbook. It's guaranteed to be a lot better than what network television has to offer. Click on all the images to enlarge them.

This is Jo sketching at Good Harbor Beach, Gloucester (MA), a Hopper watercolor dated 1925-1928.

Room, Brooklyn, 1932.

If you fear you would miss something by not seeing Hopper's paintings at the MFA, consider navigating in and out of Boston, paying the hefty admission fees, and trying to see over shoulders of those taller than you. If you think I'm being too negative, read this article by Peter Schjedahl that appeared in The New Yorker. The painting is the very famous "Nighthawks," an oil from 1942.

Carolina Morning, 1955.

Western Motel, 1957.

More, later.