Artist's Spotlight: Edward Hopper
by Stefanie A. Leyva
In the midst of COVID-19, where the world seems to be at a standstill and we self-isolate from one another, no artwork is more understanding of the American crisis as Edward Hopper’s work. A man of realistic painting of the twentieth-century, Hopper portrays the American culture’s disconnection and isolation during his own time of crisis: The Great Depression and WWII.
Born in Nyack, New York to a middle-class family, Hopper became interested and showed a talent for drawing at the age of 5. His family encouraged him to persuade his artistic skills—his mother coming from artistic heritage—and provided him art supplies, instruction magazines, and illustrated books. Around the age of 10, he began to date his work, these being geometric shapes such as a vase, bowl, cup and boxes.
After graduating from New York School of Art, he worked as an illustrator for a short period until gradually migrating to Europe. This is to be said the beginning of his inspiration and his pursuit of recognition. Many of Hopper’s work consists of landscapes. The landscapes are often deserted of human presence however, many times these human presences are alone or with company but are not interacting with one another. This is a theme of Modern arts: disconnection and isolation. At the turn of a century, the world is recovering from the First World War. A little over a decade, the United States’ stock market crashed, causing The Great Depression. Then, after some years of the economy regaining itself from, the Second World War begin. At the turn of the century, which must have spurt excitement of a new time, people of the twentieth-century came to only know of turmoil and crisis, just as we thought of the new excitement for the turn of a decade. Hopper inputs the suffering and paint into his artwork so well.
One example of Hopper’s artwork devoid of any human presence is his piece Early Sunday Morning. One might interpret that this piece as measly quiet and peaceful early Sunday morning in which shops have yet to open. However, given the context that this painting was produced in 1930—a year after the start of The Great Depression—this piece implies a somber undertone. These are small-time businesses, suggested by the windows above the shops where the shop owners live. The reason this piece goes well with our current crisis is that similar to The Great Depression, our economy has become crucial as well. Non-essential businesses are closed, causing any owners lose their livelihood and many employees becoming unemployed. The piece mirrors a crippling time of our social economy.
Then there is his most famous painting, Nighthawk, where humans are present but are. disconnected and isolate from one another despite being in close proximity Although this may not necessarily mirror our current crisis, as there is a current no dine-in policy, it does somewhat mirror our quarantine. We’re looking through a window where there are four human-beings, but there is no interaction. Even the couple isn’t engaged. While many of us are stuck at home with our family or people we share the household with, are many of us actually taking this time to bond with one another? Or has the pandemic created such an unease state of mind that we are too much in a panic ourselves to connect with one another? It also wouldn’t be a stretch to believe the tone of isolation, disconnection, and uncertainty comes from this painting, as it was produced during World War II.
Edward Hopper grew up in two critical historical events and transitioned the American inner suffering into his work. He died on May 15th, 1967 at the age of 84 in Manhattan, New York, leaving behind his work that mirrors American Society’s hardship that holds up even today.