Edward Hopper Research Paper

Edward Hopper once said, “No amount of skillful invention can replace the essential element of imagination” (qtd. in “Edward Hopper Quotes”). Hopper started out his career as a struggling impressionist, leaving many aspects of his art up to the interpretation and imagination of the person looking at it. Hopper also traveled to Europe, in particular Paris, and here he worked with the unique lighting of the city to show more expression in his artwork through the symbols of light and darkness (Edward Hopper Biography). Using the skills he learned through these experiences Edward Hopper started to paint urban settings with a focus on lighting as well as the expression of the people inside the art, while leaving the personality of these people

Hopper had a comfortable childhood, growing up in a middle class family. Here, his parents encouraged him to become an artist, as they saw his artistic talent even at a very early age. Hopper was given a chance to work with many mediums such as oil, charcoal, and watercolor. As Hopper became even more passionate about art, he decided to go to The New York School of Art and Design, where an impressionist painter named Robert Henri inspired him. Through his time studying with Henri, he learned to “paint the everyday conditions of their own world in a realistic manner” (Murphy). Hopper learned that art was not all about painting exactly what is seen, but interpreting it, and changing aspects about it to invoke an even greater emotion out of those who see it. After his schooling in New York, Hopper joined the advertising business for a short period of time, where he created illustrations for magazines. This provided Hopper with a steady income, but he was stifled with the restrictiveness of the art that he had to create, and he was not satisfied with his career. Hopper then went to Europe, in particular Paris and Spain, where the works of Edgar Degas and Édouard Manet, who depicted urban settings in their artwork, moved him. This inspired much of his most famous artwork such as Nighthawks, Automat, Early Sunday Morning, and Office at Night