Edward Hopper () von Gail Levin

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.

Contents

Introduction: Truth and Pain
The Roots of Conflict: 1882-1899
Defining the Talent: 1899-1906
Seductive Paris: 1906-1907
The Ambivalent American: 1907-1910
In Search of Style: 1911-1915
The Detour through Etching: 1915-1918
The Deeper Hunger: 1918-1923
The Leading Lady
First Success: 1923-1924
Getting Established: 1925-1927
On the Road to America: 1928-1929
Recognition: 1930-1933
First Retrospective and the Truro House: 1933-1935
An Intellectual Self-Portrait
Consequences of Success: 1936-1938
The Struggle to Paint: 1939
The War Begins: 1940
Failed Odyssey: 1941
Nighthawks: 1942
Mexico: 1943
War on the Home Front: 1944
The Aesthetic Divide: 1945
Anxiety: 1946-1947
Illness and Loss: 1948
Melancholy Reflection: 1949
A Retrospective Year: 1950
Mexico Again: 1951
Planning Reality: 1952
Reality: 1953
Taking Stock: 1954
Personal Visions: 1955
Time Cover Story: 1956
Toward Reconciliation: 1957-1958
Excursion into Philosophy: 1959
Protest: 1960
Prints Again: 1961-1962
Last Rehearsal: 1963-1964
Final Curtain: 1965-1967

Bibliographical Notes
Notes
Acknowledgments
Index