Edward Hopper (1882 - 1967)

Born 22 Jul 1882 in Nyack, Orangetown, Rockland, New York, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Josephine Verstille (Nivison) Hopper — married 9 Jul 1924 in New York, United States

Died 15 May 1967 at age 84 in New York, New York, United States

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Edward Hopper is Notable.

Edward Hopper was an American realist painter and printmaker.

Edward Hopper was born July 22, 1882 in Nyack, New York.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} He was a son of Garret Henry Hopper and Elizabeth Griffiths Smith.^[6][7][8][9]

Hopper studied commercial art and painting in New York City.^[5]

After completing formal art studies, he made a pilgrimage of sorts to Europe, investigating the art scene there. Unlike other painters at the time however, Hopper was drawn to realistic art and was turned off by the art he encountered in France during his first visit. His etchings won him acclaim, and he soon turned to the use of oils.^[5]

After returning to the U.S., he rented an apartment in New York City. He worked for many years in commercial art, and painted in oil and watercolor in his spare time. He lived simply and struggled as a freelance artist.^[10]

With his work, House by the Railroad, which he painted in 1925, he began to achieve recognition.

The best known of his paintings, Nighthawks (1942), is true to Hopper's style. All of his work seems to bring about feelings of solitude, or at the least, self-reflection in the subjects, often through use of Hopper's unique use of light. Even when they are not alone in the paintings, his subjects seem to be, as the cliché says, "a million miles away." Even the roads and landscapes seem solitary, almost sad. Whether it's a quiet country road in Maine, a motel, or a busy coffee shop in NYC, they all have a sense of quiet, like the moments before dawn.^[5]

Nighthawks

On July 9, 1924 in Manhattan, New York, New York, United States, Edward married fellow painter Josephine Nivison.^[8][11] She was outgoing and knew her way around the art world. A frequent model (and the only female model) for his paintings, she also worked hard to get her husband's work shown.

It may have been the small town feel or his ability to relate to the "everyman" that gave Hopper success even when the country was in its biggest financial crisis. When it was unimaginable that people were purchasing art, during the Great Depression, Hopper's art was still selling.

His continued success allowed him more time to paint and he began turning out work that would be regarded for its use of light and mood. By 1931 major museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art were paying thousands of dollars for his works. In 1933, the Museum of Modern Art gave Hopper his first large-scale retrospective.^[5]

Hopper lived and painted into old age. He owned homes in New York City and Truro, Massachusetts. All the loneliness shown in his work didn't seem shorten his life; he died in 1967 at the age of 84 in his studio in Greenwich Village, New York City.^[3][5] His wife Josephine, who died soon after him, donated his work to the Whitney Museum of American Art. It is still where you can see much of it today. Edward is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Nyack, Rockland, New York.^[12]

Sources

1. ↑ United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Edward Hopper, 1917-1918.
2. ↑ United States World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942, Edward Hopper, 1942
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} United States Social Security Death Index, Edward Hopper, May 1967; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File
4. ↑ Ancestry.com. New York State, Birth Index, 1881-1942 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2018. Ancestry Record 61667 #18809
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5} "Edward Hopper, Master Artist", The Central New Jersey Home News, New Brunswick, New Jersey, page 7. 17 May 1967. Accessed via Newspapers.com
6. ↑ United States Census, 1900, Edward Hopper in household of Garrett Hopper, Orangetown Township Nyack village, Rockland, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 70, sheet 11A, family 238.
7. ↑ United States Census, 1910, Edward Hopper in household of Garret H Hopper, Orangetown, Rockland, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 111, sheet 5A, family 102.
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} New York, New York City Marriage Records, 1829-1940, Edward Hopper and Josephine Nivison, 09 Jul 1924; citing Marriage, Manhattan, New York, New York, United States, New York City Municipal Archives, New York.
9. ↑ Ancestry.com. New York, State Census, 1905 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. New York State Archives; Albany, New York; State Population Census Schedules, 1905; Election District: E.D. 05; City: Orangetown; County: Rockland; Page: 140 Ancestry Record 7364 #4402239
10. ↑ Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Year: 1920; Census Place: Manhattan Assembly District 10, New York, New York; Roll: T625_1202; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 708 Ancestry Record 6061 #41833184
11. ↑ United States Census, 1940, Edward Hopper, Assembly District 10, Manhattan, New York City, New York, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 31-904, sheet 12B, line 71, family 518, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940.
12. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 16 July 2020), memorial page for Edward Hopper (22 Jul 1882–15 May 1967), Find A Grave: Memorial #503, citing Oak Hill Cemetery, Nyack, Rockland County, New York, USA ; Maintained by Find A Grave.