Monday, December 24, 2012

Edward Hopper's masterpieces

I just saw Edward Hopper's exhibition at the Grand Palais. Here are a few selections of his beautiful work.
He was a prominent American realist painter and printmaker. While he was most popularly known for his oil paintings, he was equally proficient as a watercolorist and printmaker in etching. Both in his urban and rural scenes, his spare and finely calculated renderings reflected his personal vision of modern American life.

Here is Nighthawks, one of his most famous paintings, my all time favorite.




The effective use of light and shadow to create mood is also central to Hopper’s methods. Bright sunlight (as an emblem of insight or revelation), and the shadows it casts, also play symbolically powerful roles in Hopper paintings such as Early Sunday Morning (1930), Summertime (1943), Seven A.M. (1948), and Sun in an Empty Room (1963). His use of light and shadow effects have been compared to the cinematography of film noir.



Summer evening 1947

Early sunday morning 1930

Seven A.M. 1948

Sun in an empty room 1963

Room in New York 1931


Office at night 1940


Summertime 1943


Chopsuey 1929

Conference at night 1949


New York Movie 1939


Williamsburg bridge 1928


Etching : Night shadows 1921

Etching : Night on El Train 1918


Above, characters drawn in aquarel 
and below, a few The Morse Dial covers 









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