Famous Artist

Edward Hopper

Edward Hopper was a famous artist born on July 22, 1882 in Nyack, New York. Hopper was the son of Garret and Elizabeth Hopper who were proud dry- goods merchants and only had one sibling, his sister Marion Hopper. Throughout Hopper's life he and is sister attended a mixture of private and public schools until college where he attended New York School of Art and Design. During the stride and increasing popularity of Edward Hopper's work many major historical events were taking place such as the end of the war, the death of Warren Harding, Herbert Hoover taking office,the creation of Mickey Mouse through Steamboat Mickey and the stock market crash. Despite the ever changing world around him Hopper faced many hardships throughout his own life, including the struggle he faced to define his own style, the death of his father, having to solicit to get work by going door to door and begging, and lastly, the depression that came from having to do that. Hopper even openly admitted that he hated illustration. His sad days soon ended when he saw the light at the end of the tunnel that was the woman he met that soon became his wife, Josephine Hopper. With things beginning to look up Hopper began to work mainly in oil paintings, watercolor and etchings and is considered to be a realism and impressionism artist. Edward Hopper's most famous works are Nighthawks, Automat, and New York Movie. Hopper unfortunately passed away on May 15, 1967 in Manhattan, New York with his wife passing away only ten months after he did. They left their collection of almost one thousand art pieces to the Whitney Museum of American Art.