Edward Hopper

"Hopper is simply a bad painter, but if he were a better one, he would probably not be such a great artist." Clement Greenberg.

Jene unvergleichliche Melancholie im bildnerischen Werk von Edward Hopper lenkt bisweilen den Blick auch auf biografische Details. An welchen konkreten Orten hat dieser Meister der Einsamkeit gelebt und gewirkt? Was waren die für ihn wichtigen Einflüsse, während er an den großen Bildern Amerikas gearbeitet hat? Ulf Küster geht in diesem wunderbar klug und leicht geschriebenen A bis Z genau den Themen nach, die zugleich viel über den Maler und seine Interessen erzählen und dabei doch nie den Künstler und die gebotene Distanz zu seinen unvergleichlichen Bildern aus dem Blick verlieren. So flaniert Küster entlang dem ABC von der »Amerikanischen Landschaft« über »Buick«, »Goethe« oder »Schatten und Sonnenlicht« bis zum Stichwort »Zeit« durch Leben und Werk von Edward Hopper und öffnet dabei viele neue Türen oder Einsichten, die wiederum den Blick auf Hoppers Bilder bereichern und neue Lesarten ermöglichen. Ein ebenso unterhaltsames wie informatives Buch.

Edward Hopper's world-famous, instantly recognizable paintings articulate an idiosyncratic view of modern life, unfolding in a world of lonely lighthouses, gas stations, movie theaters, bars and hotel rooms. With his impressive subjects, independent pictorial vocabulary and virtuoso play of colors, Hopper's work continues to this day to color our memory and imaginary of the United States in the first half of the 20th century. Hopper began his career as an illustrator and became famous around the globe for his oil paintings. These paintings testify to the artist's great interest in the effects of color and his mastery in depicting light and shadow, at work whether the artist was painting alienated figures in dreamlike interiors or desolate American landscapes. Edward Hopper: A Fresh Look on Landscape is published to accompany a major exhibition at the Fondation Beyeler of Hopper's iconic images of the vast American landscape. The catalog gathers together paintings, watercolors and drawings made by the artist between the 1910s and the 1960s, and supplements them with essays by Erika Doss, David Lubin and Katharina Rüppell, focused on the subject of depicting the landscape.

As a boy, Edward Hopper knew exactly what he wanted to be when he grew up: on the cover of his pencil box, he wrote the words EDWARD HOPPER, WOULD-BE ARTIST. He traveled to New York and to Paris to hone his craft. And even though no one wanted to buy his paintings for a long time, he never stopped believing in his dream to be an artist. He was fascinated with painting light and shadow and his works explore this challenge. Edward Hopper's story is one of courage, resilience, and determination. In this striking picture book biography, Robert Burleigh and Wendell Minor invite young readers into the world of a truly special American painter (most celebrated for his paintings "Nighthawks" and "Gas").

New York Times Notable Book Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist Wall Street Journal—One of Five Best Artist Biographies Edward Hopper's canvasses are filled with stripped-down spaces and unrelenting light, evocative landscapes, and the lonely aspects of men and women seemingly isolated in their surroundings. What kind of man had this haunting vision, and what kind of life engendered this art? No one is better qualified to answer these questions than art historian Gail Levin, author and curator of the major studies and exhibitions of Hopper's work. In this intimate biography she reveals the true nature and personality of the man himself—and of the woman who shared his life, the artist Josephine Nivison.

Each poem in 'Edward Hopper' is based on a painting by the American artist. Together they form a narrative sketching the life of the subject from small-town origins to big-city life, from youth to age.