Editing Edward Hopper (section)

== Art ==

=== Personality and vision ===
Always reluctant to discuss himself and his art, Hopper simply said, "The whole answer is there on the canvas."<ref name="Maker 1990, p. 17" /> Hopper was stoic and fatalistic—a quiet introverted man with a gentle sense of humor and a frank manner. Hopper was someone drawn to an emblematic, anti-narrative [[Symbolism (arts)|symbolism]],<ref>{{cite journal |last=Anfam |first=David |title=Review of 'A Catalogue Raisonné by Gail Levin' |journal=The Burlington Magazine |year=1999}}</ref> who "painted short isolated moments of configuration, saturated with suggestion".<ref>{{cite book |last=Strand |first=Mark |title=Hopper |publisher=Knopf |year=1994 |isbn=9780307701244}}</ref> His silent spaces and uneasy encounters "touch us where we are most vulnerable",<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Berman |first=Avis |title=Hopper the Supreme American Realist of the 20th Century |magazine=Smithsonian Magazine |date=June 2007}}</ref> and have "a suggestion of melancholy, that melancholy being enacted".<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Strand |first=Mark |title=Review of 'Hopper Drawing' Whitney Museum 2013 |magazine=The New York Review of Books |date=June 2015}}</ref> His sense of color revealed him as a pure painter,<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Carnegie Traces Hopper's Rise to Fame |magazine=Art Digest |date=April 1937}}</ref> as he "turned the [[Puritan]] into the purist, in his quiet canvasses where blemishes and blessings balance".<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The Silent Witness |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=December 24, 1956}}</ref> According to critic [[Lloyd Goodrich]], he was "an eminently native painter, who more than any other was getting more of the quality of America into his canvases".<ref>Maker, Sherry, ''Edward Hopper'', Brompton Books, New York, 1990, p. 6, {{ISBN|0-517-01518-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Goodrich |first=Lloyd |title=The Paintings of Edward Hopper |journal=The Arts |date=March 1927}}</ref>

Conservative in politics and social matters (Hopper asserted for example that "artists' lives should be written by people very close to them"),<ref>{{cite book |last=Kuh |first=Katharine |title=The Artist's Voice: Talks with Seventeen Artists |location=New York |publisher=Harper and Row |year=1960}}</ref> he accepted things as they were and displayed a lack of idealism. Cultured and sophisticated, he was well-read, and many of his paintings show figures reading.<ref>{{harvnb|Wagstaff|2004|p=88}}</ref> He was generally good company and unperturbed by silences, though sometimes taciturn, grumpy, or detached. He was always serious about his art and the art of others, and when asked would return frank opinions.<ref>{{harvnb|Wagstaff|2004|pp=84–86}}</ref>

Hopper's most systematic declaration of his philosophy as an artist was given in a handwritten note, titled "Statement", submitted in 1953 to the journal ''Reality'':

{{quote|text=Great art is the outward expression of an inner life in the artist, and this inner life will result in his personal vision of the world. No amount of skillful invention can replace the essential element of imagination. One of the weaknesses of much abstract painting is the attempt to substitute the inventions of the human intellect for a private imaginative conception.

The inner life of a human being is a vast and varied realm and does not concern itself alone with stimulating arrangements of color, form and design.

The term life used in art is something not to be held in contempt, for it implies all of existence and the province of art is to react to it and not to shun it.

Painting will have to deal more fully and less obliquely with life and nature's phenomena before it can again become great.|author=Edward Hopper|source=Published as part of "Statements by Four Artists" in ''Reality'', vol. 1, no. 1 (Spring 1953). Hopper's handwritten draft is reproduced in Levin, ''Edward Hopper: An Intimate Biography'', p. 461.}}

Though Hopper claimed that he didn't consciously embed psychological meaning in his paintings, he was deeply interested in [[Freud]] and the power of the subconscious mind. He wrote in 1939: "So much of every art is an expression of the subconscious that it seems to me most of all the important qualities are put there unconsciously, and little of importance by the conscious intellect."<ref>{{harvnb|Wagstaff|2004|p=71}}</ref>

=== Methods ===
[[File:Universalist Church (Edward Hopper, 1926).jpg|thumb|''Universalist Church'', 1926, watercolor over graphite on cream wove paper, [[Princeton University Art Museum]]]]

Although he is best known for his oil paintings, Hopper initially achieved recognition for his watercolors, and he also produced some commercially successful etchings. Additionally, his notebooks contain high-quality pen and pencil sketches, which were never meant for public viewing.

Hopper paid particular attention to geometrical design and the careful placement of human figures in proper balance with their environment. He was a slow and methodical artist; as he wrote, "It takes a long time for an idea to strike. Then I have to think about it for a long time. I don't start painting until I have it all worked out in my mind. I'm all right when I get to the easel".<ref>{{harvnb|Wagstaff|2004|p=98}}</ref> He often made preparatory sketches to work out his carefully calculated compositions. He and his wife kept a detailed ledger of their works noting such items as "sad face of woman unlit", "electric light from ceiling", and "thighs cooler".<ref>{{harvnb|Levin|2001|p=254}}</ref>

For ''New York Movie'' (1939), Hopper demonstrated his thorough preparation with more than 53 sketches of the theater interior and the figure of the pensive usherette.<ref>{{harvnb|Levin|2001|p=261}}</ref>

The effective use of light and shadow to create mood is also central to Hopper's methods. Bright sunlight (as an emblem of insight or revelation), and the shadows it casts, play symbolically powerful roles in Hopper paintings such as ''[[Early Sunday Morning]]'' (1930), ''Summertime'' (1943), ''Seven A.M.'' (1948), and ''[[Sun in an Empty Room]]'' (1963). His use of light and shadow effects has been compared to the cinematography of [[film noir]].<ref>{{harvnb|Wagstaff|2004|p=92}}</ref>

Although a realist painter, Hopper's "soft" realism simplified shapes and details. He used saturated color to heighten contrast and create mood.

=== Subjects and themes ===
Hopper derived his subject matter from two primary sources: the common features of American life (such as gas stations, motels, restaurants, theaters, railroads, and street scenes) and their inhabitants; and seascapes and rural landscapes. Regarding his style, Hopper defined himself as "an amalgam of many races" and not a member of any school, particularly the "[[Ashcan School]]".<ref name="Wagstaff 2004, p. 13">{{harvnb|Wagstaff|2004|p=13}}</ref> Once Hopper achieved his mature style, his art remained consistent and self-contained, despite the numerous art trends that came and went during his long career.<ref name="Wagstaff 2004, p. 13" />

Hopper's seascapes fall into three main groups: pure landscapes of rocks, sea, and beach grass; lighthouses and farmhouses; and sailboats. Sometimes he combined these elements. Most of these paintings depict strong light and fair weather; he showed little interest in snow or rain scenes, or in seasonal color changes. He painted the majority of the pure seascapes between 1916 and 1919 on [[Monhegan Island]].<ref>{{harvnb|Levin|2001|pp=130–145}}</ref> Hopper's ''The Long Leg'' (1935) is a nearly all-blue sailing picture with the simplest of elements, while his ''[[Ground Swell (painting)|Ground Swell]]'' (1939) is more complex and depicts a group of youngsters out for a sail, a theme reminiscent of [[Winslow Homer]]'s iconic ''[[Breezing Up (A Fair Wind)]]'' (1876).<ref>{{harvnb|Levin|2001|p=266}}</ref>

Urban architecture and cityscapes were also major subjects for Hopper. He was fascinated with the American urban scene, "our native architecture with its hideous beauty, its fantastic roofs, pseudo-gothic, French [[Mansard]], Colonial, mongrel or what not, with eye-searing color or delicate harmonies of faded paint, shouldering one another along interminable streets that taper off into swamps or dump heaps."<ref>{{harvnb|Wagstaff|2004|p=67}}</ref>

In 1925, he produced ''House by the Railroad''. This classic work depicts an isolated [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] wood mansion, partly obscured by the raised embankment of a railroad. It marked Hopper's artistic maturity. Lloyd Goodrich praised the work as "one of the most poignant and desolating pieces of realism".<ref>{{harvnb|Wagstaff|2004|p=229}}</ref> The work is the first of a series of stark rural and urban scenes that use sharp lines and large shapes, played upon by unusual lighting to capture the lonely mood of his subjects. Although critics and viewers interpret meaning and mood in these cityscapes, Hopper insisted, "I was more interested in the sunlight on the buildings and on the figures than any symbolism."<ref name="Wagstaff 2004, p. 12">{{harvnb|Wagstaff|2004|p=12}}</ref> As if to prove the point, his late painting ''Sun in an Empty Room'' (1963) is a pure study of sunlight.<ref>{{harvnb|Wagstaff|2004|p=28}}</ref>

Most of Hopper's figure paintings focus on the subtle interaction of human beings with their environment—carried out with solo figures, couples, or groups. His primary emotional themes are solitude, loneliness, regret, boredom, and resignation. He expresses these emotions in various environments, including the office, in public places, in apartments, on the road, or on vacation.<ref>{{harvnb|Wagstaff|2004|pp=70–71}}</ref> As if he were creating stills for a movie or tableaux in a play, Hopper positioned his characters as if they were captured just before or just after the climax of a scene.<ref>{{harvnb|Goodrich|1971}}</ref>

Hopper's solitary figures are mostly women—dressed, semi-clad, and nude—often reading or looking out a window, or in the workplace. In the early 1920s, Hopper painted his first such images: ''Girl at Sewing Machine'' (1921), ''New York Interior'' (another woman sewing) (1921), and ''Moonlight Interior'' (a nude getting into bed) (1923). ''Automat'' (1927) and ''Hotel Room'' (1931), however, are more representative of his mature style, emphasizing solitude more overtly.<ref>{{harvnb|Levin|2001|pp=169, 213}}</ref>

As Hopper scholar Gail Levin wrote of ''Hotel Room'':

{{quote|The spare vertical and diagonal bands of color and sharp electric shadows create a concise and intense drama in the night... Combining poignant subject matter with such a powerful formal arrangement, Hopper's composition is pure enough to approach an almost abstract sensibility, yet layered with a poetic meaning for the observer.<ref>{{harvnb|Levin|2001|p=212}}</ref>}}

Hopper's ''Room in New York'' (1932) and ''Cape Cod Evening'' (1939) are prime examples of his "couple" paintings. In the first, a young couple appear alienated and uncommunicative—he reading the newspaper while she idles by the piano. The viewer takes on the role of a voyeur, as if looking with a telescope through the window of the apartment to spy on the couple's lack of intimacy. In the latter painting, an older couple with little to say to each other are playing with their dog, whose own attention is drawn away from his masters.<ref name="Levin 2001, p. 220, 264">{{harvnb|Levin|2001|pp=220, 264}}</ref> Hopper takes the couple theme to a more ambitious level with ''Excursion into Philosophy'' (1959). A middle-aged man sits dejectedly on the edge of a bed. Beside him lies an open book and a partially clad woman. A shaft of light illuminates the floor in front of him. Jo Hopper noted in their log book, "[T]he open book is [[Plato]], reread too late".

Levin interprets the painting:

{{quote|Plato's philosopher, in search of the real and the true, must turn away from this transitory realm and contemplate the eternal Forms and Ideas. The pensive man in Hopper's painting is positioned between the lure of the earthly domain, figured by the woman, and the call of the higher spiritual domain, represented by the ethereal lightfall. The pain of thinking about this choice and its consequences, after reading Plato all night, is evident. He is paralysed by the fervent inner labour of the [[Depression (mood)|melancholic]].<ref>{{harvnb|Wagstaff|2004|p=55}}</ref>}}

In ''[[Office at Night]]'' (1940), another "couple" painting, Hopper creates a psychological puzzle. The painting shows a man focusing on his work papers, while nearby his attractive female secretary pulls a file. Several studies for the painting show how Hopper experimented with the positioning of the two figures, perhaps to heighten the [[eroticism]] and the tension. Hopper presents the viewer with the possibilities that the man is either truly uninterested in the woman's appeal or that he is working hard to ignore her. Another interesting aspect of the painting is how Hopper employs three light sources,<ref name="Levin 2001, p. 220, 264" /> from a desk lamp, through a window and indirect light from above. Hopper went on to make several "office" pictures, but no others with a sensual undercurrent.

[[File:Nighthawks by Edward Hopper 1942.jpg|thumb|''[[Nighthawks (painting)|Nighthawks]]'' (1942)]]
The best-known of Hopper's paintings, ''[[Nighthawks (painting)|Nighthawks]]'' (1942), is one of his paintings of groups. It shows customers sitting at the counter of an all-night diner. The shapes and diagonals are carefully constructed. The viewpoint is cinematic—from the sidewalk, as if the viewer were approaching the restaurant. The diner's harsh electric light sets it apart from the dark night outside, enhancing the mood and subtle emotion.<ref>{{harvnb|Levin|2001|p=288}}</ref> As in many Hopper paintings, the interaction is minimal. The restaurant depicted was inspired by one in Greenwich Village. Both Hopper and his wife posed for the figures, and Jo Hopper gave the painting its title. The inspiration for the picture may have come from [[Ernest Hemingway]]'s short story "[[The Killers (Hemingway short story)|The Killers]]", which Hopper greatly admired,<ref>Hopper wrote: "I want to compliment you for printing Ernest Hemingway's "The Killers" in the March ''Scribner's''. It is refreshing to come upon such a honest piece of work in an American magazine, after wading through the vast sea of sugar coated mush that makes up the most of our fiction. Of the concessions to popular prejudices, the side stepping of truth, and the ingenious mechanism of the trick ending there is no taint in this story.", Edward Hopper to the editor, ''Scribner's Magazine'', 82 (June 1927), p. 706d, quoted in {{harvtxt|Levin|1979b|p=[https://archive.org/details/edwardho00levi/page/6/mode/2up 7]}}, {{harvtxt|Levin|1979b|loc=[https://archive.org/details/edwardho00levi/page/n73/mode/2up note 25]}}</ref> or from the more philosophical "[[A Clean, Well-Lighted Place]]".<ref>{{harvnb|Wagstaff|2004|p=44}}</ref> The mood of the painting has sometimes been interpreted as an expression of wartime anxiety.<ref name="metmuseum">{{cite web |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/hopp/hd_hopp.htm |title=Edward Hopper (1882–1967) |first=Jessica |last=Murphy |date=June 2007 |website=Metropolitan Museum of Art |access-date=April 22, 2020}}</ref> In keeping with the title of his painting, Hopper later said, ''Nighthawks'' has more to do with the possibility of predators in the night than with loneliness.<ref>{{harvnb|Levin|1995b|p=350}}</ref>

His second most recognizable painting after ''Nighthawks'' is another urban painting, ''[[Early Sunday Morning]]'' (originally called ''Seventh Avenue Shops''), which shows an empty street scene in sharp side light, with a fire hydrant and a [[barber pole]] as stand-ins for human figures. Originally Hopper intended to put figures in the upstairs windows but left them empty to heighten the feeling of desolation.<ref>{{harvnb|Levin|2001|p=198}}</ref>

Hopper's rural [[New England]] scenes, such as ''[[Gas (painting)|Gas]]'' (1940), are no less meaningful. ''Gas'' represents "a different, equally clean, well-lighted refuge ... ke[pt] open for those in need as they navigate the night, traveling their own miles to go before they sleep."<ref>{{cite book |last=Wells |first=Walter |title=Silent Theater: The Art of Edward Hopper |location=London/New York |publisher=Phaidon Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0714845418}}</ref> The work presents a fusion of several Hopper themes: the solitary figure, the melancholy of dusk, and the lonely road.<ref>{{harvnb|Levin|2001|p=278}}</ref>

Hopper's ''[[Rooms by the Sea]]'' (1951), shows an open door with a view of the ocean, without an apparent ladder or steps and no indication of a beach.<ref>{{harvnb|Maker|1990|p=37}}</ref>

After his student years, Hopper's nudes were all women. Unlike past artists who painted the female nude to glorify the female form and to highlight female eroticism, Hopper's nudes are solitary women who are psychologically exposed.<ref>{{harvnb|Wagstaff|2004|p=20}}</ref> One audacious exception is ''Girlie Show'' (1941), where a red-headed strip-tease queen strides confidently across a stage to the accompaniment of the musicians in the pit. ''Girlie Show'' was inspired by Hopper's visit to a [[American burlesque|burlesque]] show a few days earlier. Hopper's wife, as usual, posed for him for the painting, and noted in her diary, "Ed beginning a new canvas—a burlesque queen doing a strip tease—and I posing without a stitch on in front of the stove—nothing but high heels in a lottery dance pose."<ref>{{harvnb|Levin|2001|p=282}}</ref>

Hopper's portraits and self-portraits were relatively few after his student years.<ref>{{harvnb|Levin|2001|p=162}}</ref> Hopper did produce a commissioned "portrait" of a house, ''The MacArthurs' Home'' (1939), where he faithfully details the Victorian architecture of the home of actress [[Helen Hayes]]. She reported later, "I guess I never met a more misanthropic, grumpy individual in my life." Hopper grumbled throughout the project and never again accepted a commission.<ref>{{harvnb|Levin|2001|p=268}}</ref> Hopper also painted ''Portrait of Orleans'' (1950), a "portrait" of the Cape Cod town from its main street.<ref>{{harvnb|Levin|2001|p=332}}</ref>

Though very interested in the [[American Civil War]] and [[Mathew Brady]]'s battlefield photographs, Hopper made only two historical paintings. Both depicted soldiers on their way to [[Battle of Gettysburg|Gettysburg]].<ref>{{harvnb|Levin|2001|p=274}}</ref> Also rare among his themes are paintings showing action. The best example of an action painting is ''Bridle Path'' (1939), but Hopper's struggle with the proper anatomy of the horses may have discouraged him from similar attempts.<ref>{{harvnb|Levin|2001|p=262}}</ref>

Hopper's final oil painting, ''[[Two Comedians]]'' (1966), painted one year before his death, focuses on his love of the theater. Two French [[pantomime]] actors, one male and one female, both dressed in bright white costumes, take their bow in front of a darkened stage. Jo Hopper confirmed that her husband intended the figures to suggest they are taking their life's last bows together as husband and wife.<ref>{{harvnb|Levin|2001|p=380}}</ref>

Hopper's paintings have often been seen by others as having a narrative or thematic content that the artist may not have intended. Much meaning can be added to a painting by its title, but the titles of Hopper's paintings were sometimes chosen by others, or were selected by Hopper and his wife in a way that makes it unclear whether they have any real connection with the artist's meaning. For example, Hopper once told an interviewer that he was "fond of ''[[Early Sunday Morning]]''... but it wasn't necessarily Sunday. That word was tacked on later by someone else."<ref>{{cite book |last=Kuh |first=Katharine |title=The Artist's Voice: Talks with Seventeen Modern Artists |location=New York |publisher=Da Capo |year=2000 |page=134}}</ref>

The tendency to read thematic or narrative content into Hopper's paintings, that Hopper had not intended, extended even to his wife. When Jo Hopper commented on the figure in ''Cape Cod Morning'' "It's a woman looking out to see if the weather's good enough to hang out her wash," Hopper retorted, "Did I say that? You're making it Norman Rockwell. From my point of view she's just looking out the window."<ref>{{harvnb|Levin|2001|p=334}}</ref>

{{quote|Hopper's ''Summer Evening'', a young couple talking in the harsh light of a cottage porch, is inescapably romantic, but Hopper was hurt by one critic's suggestion that it would do for an illustration in "any woman's magazine." Hopper had the painting in the back of his head "for 20 years and I never thought of putting the figures in until I actually started last summer. Why any art director would tear the picture apart. The figures were not what interested me; it was the light streaming down, and the night all around."|''Time'', January 19, 1948, pp. 59–60.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Travelling Man |magazine=Time |date=January 19, 1948 |pages=59–60}}</ref>}}

=== Place in American art ===
[[File:New york restaurant by edward hopper.jpg|thumb|''New York Restaurant'' (1922)]]
In focusing primarily on quiet moments, very rarely showing action, Hopper employed a form of realism adopted by another leading American realist, [[Andrew Wyeth]], but Hopper's technique was completely different from Wyeth's hyper-detailed style.<ref name="Maker 1990, p. 17" /> In league with some of his contemporaries, Hopper shared his urban sensibility with [[John Sloan]] and [[George Bellows]] but avoided their overt action and violence. Where [[Joseph Stella]] and [[Georgia O'Keeffe]] glamorized the monumental structures of the city, Hopper reduced them to everyday geometrics and he depicted the pulse of the city as desolate and dangerous rather than "elegant or seductive".<ref>{{harvnb|Maker|1990|p=43}}</ref>

[[Charles Burchfield]], whom Hopper admired and to whom he was compared, said of Hopper, "he achieves such a complete verity that you can read into his interpretations of houses and conceptions of New York life any human implications you wish."<ref>{{harvnb|Maker|1990|p=65}}</ref> He also attributed Hopper's success to his "bold individualism. ... In him we have regained that sturdy American independence which [[Thomas Eakins]] gave us, but which for a time was lost."<ref>{{harvnb|Wagstaff|2004|p=15}}</ref> Hopper considered this a high compliment since he considered Eakins the greatest American painter.<ref>{{harvnb|Wagstaff|2004|p=23}}</ref>

Hopper scholar Deborah Lyons writes, "Our own moments of revelation are often mirrored, transcendent, in his work. Once seen, Hopper's interpretations exist in our consciousness in tandem with our own experience. We forever see a certain type of house as a Hopper house, invested perhaps with a mystery that Hopper implanted in our own vision." Hopper's paintings highlight the seemingly mundane and typical scenes in our everyday life and give them cause for epiphany. In this way Hopper's art takes the gritty American landscape and lonely gas stations and creates within them a sense of beautiful anticipation.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lyons |first=Deborah |title=Edward Hopper and The American Imagination |location=New York |publisher=Norton |year=1995 |page=xii |isbn=0-393-31329-8}}</ref>

Although compared to his contemporary [[Norman Rockwell]] in terms of subject matter, Hopper did not like the comparison. Hopper considered himself more subtle, less illustrative, and certainly not sentimental. Hopper also rejected comparisons with [[Grant Wood]] and [[Thomas Hart Benton (painter)|Thomas Hart Benton]] stating "I think the American Scene painters caricatured America. I always wanted to do myself."<ref>{{harvnb|Maker|1990|p=19}}</ref>

=== Influence ===
Hopper's influence on the art world and pop culture is undeniable; see {{slink||In popular culture}} for numerous examples. Though he had no formal students, many artists have cited him as an influence, including [[Willem de Kooning]], [[Jim Dine]], and [[Mark Rothko]].<ref name="Wagstaff 2004, p. 13">{{harvnb|Wagstaff|2004|p=13}}</ref> An illustration of Hopper's influence is Rothko's early work ''Composition I'' (c. 1931), which is a direct paraphrase of Hopper's ''Chop Suey''.<ref>{{harvnb|Wagstaff|2004|p=36}}</ref>

Hopper's cinematic compositions and dramatic use of light and dark have made him a favorite among filmmakers. For example, ''House by the Railroad'' is reported to have heavily influenced the iconic house in the [[Alfred Hitchcock]] film ''[[Psycho (1960 film)|Psycho]]''.<ref>{{harvnb|Wagstaff|2004|p=234}}</ref> The same painting has also been cited as being an influence on the home in the [[Terrence Malick]] film ''[[Days of Heaven]]''. The 1981 film ''[[Pennies from Heaven (1981 film)|Pennies from Heaven]]'' includes a [[tableau vivant]] of ''Nighthawks'', with the lead actors in the places of the diners. German director [[Wim Wenders]] also cites Hopper influence.<ref name="Wagstaff 2004, p. 13" /> His 1997 film ''[[The End of Violence]]'' also incorporates a tableau vivant of ''Nighthawks'', recreated by actors. Noted surrealist horror film director [[Dario Argento]] went so far as to recreate the diner and the patrons in ''Nighthawks'' as part of a set for his 1976 film ''[[Deep Red]]'' (aka ''Profondo Rosso''). [[Ridley Scott]] has cited the same painting as a visual inspiration for ''[[Blade Runner]]''. To establish the lighting of scenes in the 2002 film ''[[Road to Perdition]]'', director [[Sam Mendes]] drew from the paintings of Hopper as a source of inspiration, particularly ''New York Movie''.<ref>{{cite news |first=Ray |last=Zone |url=http://www.theasc.com/magazine/aug02/perdition/sidebar1.html |title=A Master of Mood |work=[[American Cinematographer]] |access-date=June 6, 2007 }}</ref> The Austrian filmmaker [[Gustav Deutsch]] based a movie on 13 of Hopper’s paintings.<ref>{{cite web |last=Bortzmeyer |first=Gabriel |title=Shirley, Gustav Deutsch |url=http://debordements.fr/Shirley-Gustav-Deutsch/ |website=Débordements.fr |date=September 16, 2014 |access-date=January 20, 2025}}</ref> 

Homages to ''Nighthawks'' featuring cartoon characters or famous pop culture icons such as [[James Dean]] and [[Marilyn Monroe]] are often found in poster stores and gift shops. The cable television channel [[Turner Classic Movies]] sometimes runs animated clips based on Hopper paintings prior to airing its films. Musical influences include singer-songwriter [[Tom Waits]]'s 1975 live-in-the-studio album titled ''[[Nighthawks at the Diner]]'', after the painting. In 1993, [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]] was inspired sufficiently by Hopper's 1941 painting ''Girlie Show'' that she named her [[The Girlie Show Tour|world tour]] after it and incorporated many of the theatrical elements and mood of the painting into the show. In 2004, British guitarist [[John Squire]] (formerly of [[The Stone Roses]]) released a [[concept album]] based on Hopper's work entitled ''[[Marshall's House]]''. Each song on the album is inspired by, and shares its title with, a painting by Hopper. Canadian rock group [[The Weakerthans]] released their album [[Reunion Tour (album)|Reunion Tour]] in 2007 featuring two songs inspired by and named after Hopper paintings, "Sun in an Empty Room", and "Night Windows", and have also referenced him in songs such as "Hospital Vespers". Hopper's ''Compartment C, Car 293'' inspired Polish composer [[Paweł Szymański]]'s ''Compartment 2, Car 7'' for violin, viola, cello and [[vibraphone]] (2003), as well as [[Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine]]'s song ''Compartiment C Voiture 293 Edward Hopper 1938'' (2011). Hopper's work has influenced multiple recordings by British band [[Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark]]. ''Early Sunday Morning'' was the inspiration for the sleeve of ''[[Crush (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark album)|Crush]]'' (1985).{{citation needed|date=July 2022}} The same band's 2013 single "[[English Electric (album)|Night Café]]" was influenced by ''Nighthawks'' and mentions Hopper by name. Seven of his paintings are referenced in the lyrics.<ref name="slicingupeyeballs.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/2013/08/05/stream-omd-night-cafe-vile-electrodes-remix/ |title=Premiere: OMD, 'Night Café' (Vile Electrodes 'B-Side the C-Side' Remix) |website=Slicing Up Eyeballs |date=August 5, 2013 |access-date=September 25, 2013}}</ref>

In poetry, numerous poems have been inspired by Hopper's paintings, typically as vivid descriptions and dramatizations; this genre is known as [[ekphrasis]]. In addition to numerous individual poems inspired by Hopper, several poets have written collections based on Hopper's paintings. The French poet [[Claude Esteban]] wrote a collection of [[prose poem]]s, ''[[:fr:Soleil dans une pièce vide|Soleil dans une pièce vide]]'' (''Sun in an Empty room'', 1991), based on forty-seven Hopper paintings from between 1921 and 1963, ending with ''Sun in an Empty room'' (1963), hence the title.<ref>{{cite web |title=Trois fenêtres, la nuit (Night Windows) |url=https://bergerault-univ-tours.fr/doc/doc14.pdf |access-date=April 3, 2025}}</ref> The poems each dramatized a Hopper painting, imagining a story behind the scene; the book won the [[Prix France Culture]] prize in 1991. Eight of the poems – ''Ground Swell'', ''Girl at Sewing Machine'', ''Compartment C, Car 293'', ''Nighthawks'', ''South Carolina Morning'', ''House by the Railroad'', ''People in the Sun'', and ''Roofs of Washington Square'' – were subsequently set to music by composer [[Graciane Finzi]], and recorded with reading by the singer [[Natalie Dessay]] on her album ''Portraits of America'' (2016), where they were supplemented by selecting ten additional Hopper paintings, and songs from the [[American songbook]] to go with them.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nataliedessay.fr/2016/11/24/pictures-of-america/ |title=Pictures of America |date=November 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202162834/https://www.nataliedessay.fr/2016/11/24/pictures-of-america/ |archive-date=February 2, 2017 |access-date=April 3, 2025}}</ref> Similarly, the Spanish poet {{ill|Ernest Farrés|ca|Ernest Farrés i Junyent}} wrote a collection of fifty-one poems in [[Catalan language|Catalan]], under the name ''Edward Hopper'' (2006, English translation 2010 by Lawrence Venuti), and James Hoggard wrote ''Triangles of Light: The Edward Hopper Poems'' (Wings Press, 2009). A collection by various poets was organized in ''The Poetry of Solitude: A Tribute to Edward Hopper'' 1995 (editor [[Gail Levin (art historian)|Gail Levin]]). Individual poems include Byron Vazakas (1957) and John Stone (1985) inspired by ''[[Early Sunday Morning]]'', and [[Mary Leader]] inspired by ''[[Girl at Sewing Machine]]''.

=== Exhibitions ===

In 1980, the show ''Edward Hopper: The Art and the Artist'' opened at the [[Whitney Museum of American Art]] and toured to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Tate Gallery in London, the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.<ref>{{harvnb|Levin|1980}}</ref> It was the first major retrospective to present Hopper's oil paintings alongside his preparatory sketches and drawings.

In 2004, a large selection of Hopper's paintings toured Europe, visiting the [[Museum Ludwig]] in Cologne, Germany, and the [[Tate Modern]] in London. The Tate exhibition became the second most visited in the gallery’s history at the time, with more than 420,000 visitors.<ref>{{cite web |title=Edward Hopper at Tate Modern |url=https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/edward-hopper |website=Tate |access-date=April 3, 2025}}</ref>

In 2007, an exhibition focused on the period of Hopper's greatest achievements—from about 1925 to mid-century—was presented at the [[Museum of Fine Arts, Boston]]. The show included fifty oil paintings, thirty watercolors, and twelve prints, including ''Nighthawks'', ''Chop Suey'', and ''Lighthouse and Buildings''. It was organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, the [[National Gallery of Art]] in Washington, and the [[Art Institute of Chicago]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Edward Hopper |url=https://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/edward-hopper |website=Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |access-date=April 3, 2025}}</ref>

In 2010, the [[Fondation de l'Hermitage]] in Lausanne, Switzerland, held an exhibition covering Hopper's entire career, with works drawn largely from the Whitney Museum in New York City. It included paintings, watercolors, etchings, cartoons, posters, and preparatory studies for selected paintings. The exhibition had previously been displayed in Milan and Rome.<ref>{{cite web |title=Edward Hopper |url=https://fondation-hermitage.ch/en/home/expositions/en-cours/ |website=Fondation de l'Hermitage |access-date=April 3, 2025}}</ref>

In 2012, a major exhibition opened at the [[Grand Palais]] in Paris. Divided into two parts, it covered Hopper's formative years (1900–1924), with comparisons to his contemporaries and French influences, and his mature style from 1925 onward, featuring works like ''House by the Railroad''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Edward Hopper |url=https://www.grandpalais.fr/en/event/edward-hopper |website=Grand Palais |access-date=April 3, 2025}}</ref>

In 2020, the [[Fondation Beyeler]] in Switzerland staged an exhibition emphasizing Hopper’s representations of American landscapes and cityscapes, curated in collaboration with the Whitney Museum.<ref>{{cite web |author=Fondation Beyeler |date=2020 |title=Edward Hopper |url=https://www.fondationbeyeler.ch/en/exhibitions/past-exhibitions/edward-hopper |access-date=January 3, 2021 |website=Fondation Beyeler}}</ref>

From 2022 to 2023, the Whitney Museum mounted ''Edward Hopper’s New York'', which explored the artist's relationship with the city he called home for nearly sixty years.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://whitney.org/exhibitions/edward-hopper-new-york |title=Edward Hopper's New York |website=Whitney Museum |access-date=October 24, 2022}}</ref>

===Art market===
Works by Hopper rarely appear on the market. The artist was not prolific, painting just 366 canvases; during the 1950s, when he was in his 70s, he produced approximately five paintings a year.

Hopper's longtime dealer, Frank Rehn, who gave the artist his first solo show in 1924, sold ''Hotel Window'' (1956) to collector Olga Knoepke for $7,000 ({{Inflation|US|7000|1957|fmt=eq}}) in 1957. In 1999, the Forbes Collection sold it to actor [[Steve Martin]] privately for around $10&nbsp;million. In 2006, Martin sold it for $26.89&nbsp;million at [[Sotheby's]] New York, an auction record for the artist at that time.<ref>{{cite news |last=Vogel |first=Carol |title=Edward Hopper Paintings Change at Whitney Show |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/06/arts/design/06voge.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 6, 2006 |access-date=April 2, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Pollock |first=Linsay |title=Steve Martin Hopper, Wistful Rockwell Break Auction Records |url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aRepCiBBQn7Q |work=[[Bloomberg News|Bloomberg]] |date=November 29, 2006 |access-date=April 2, 2025 |archive-date=September 30, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930020943/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aRepCiBBQn7Q&refer=muse}}</ref>

In 2013, the [[Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts]] in [[Philadelphia]] put Hopper's ''[[East Wind Over Weehawken]]'' (1934) up for sale, hoping to garner $22–$28&nbsp;million to establish a fund to acquire contemporary art.<ref>{{cite news |last=Salisbury |first=Stephan |title=Pennsylvania Academy to sell Hopper painting |url=http://articles.philly.com/2013-08-29/news/41542141_1_edward-hopper-hopper-painting-crystal-bridges-museum |work=Philly.com |date=August 29, 2013 |access-date=April 2, 2025 |archive-date=October 22, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022184912/http://articles.philly.com/2013-08-29/news/41542141_1_edward-hopper-hopper-painting-crystal-bridges-museum}}</ref><ref name="JerseyJournal" /> The painting, a street scene rendered in dark, earthy tones depicting the gabled house at 1001 [[Boulevard East]] at the corner of 49th Street in [[Weehawken, New Jersey]], is considered one of Hopper's best works.<ref>{{cite news |last=Schwartz |first=Art |title=Hopper comes home: Woman buys modern version of $40M painting depicting her house on Boulevard East |url=http://hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/24301673/article-Hopper-comes-home--Woman-buys-modern-version-of-%2440M-painting-depicting-her-house-on-Boulevard-East-- |work=Hudson Reporter |date=December 29, 2013 |access-date=April 2, 2025 |archive-date=April 9, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409184318/http://hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/24301673/article-Hopper-comes-home--Woman-buys-modern-version-of-%2440M-painting-depicting-her-house-on-Boulevard-East--?instance=search_results}}</ref> It was acquired directly from the dealer handling the artist's paintings in 1952, fifteen years before the death of the painter. The painting sold for a record-breaking $36&nbsp;million at [[Christie's]] in New York, to an anonymous telephone bidder.<ref name="JerseyJournal">{{cite news |last=Carswell |first=Vonecia |title=1934 'East Wind Over Weehawken' painting sells for $36M at Christie's auction |url=http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index.ssf/2013/12/1934_east_wind_over_weehawken.html |work=The Jersey Journal |date=December 6, 2013 |access-date=April 2, 2025}}</ref>

In 2018, after the death of art collector [[Barney A. Ebsworth]] and the subsequent auction of many pieces from his collection, ''[[Chop Suey (painting)|Chop Suey]]'' (1929) was sold for $91.9&nbsp;million, becoming the most expensive of Hopper's works ever bought at auction.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-46205604 |title=Hopper's Chop Suey in record-breaking $92m sale |date=November 14, 2018 |website=BBC News |access-date=April 2, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Reyburn |first=Scott |title=Hopper Painting Sells for Record $91.9 Million at Christie's |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/arts/design/hopper-painting-christies-auction.html |work=The New York Times |date=November 13, 2018 |access-date=April 2, 2025}}</ref>