Edward Hopper: An Intimate Biography

by Gail Levin

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520393387
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	01/03/2023
Edition description:	First Edition, Reissue
Pages:	704
Sales rank:	378,985
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.80(d)

About the Author

Gail Levin is a biographer, art historian, and curator of landmark exhibitions. She is Distinguished Professor of Art History, American Studies, and Women's Studies at the City University of New York. She is the author of many books on Edward Hopper and on other aspects of twentieth-century American art. 

Table of Contents

Introduction: Truth and Pain xi

The Roots of Conflict: 1882-1899 3

Defining the Talent: 1899-1906 27

Seductive Paris: 1906-1907 49

The Ambivalent American: 1907-1910 72

In Search of a Style: 1911-1915 84

The Detour through Etching: 1915-1918 102

The Deeper Hunger: 1918-1923 123

The Leading Lady 146

First Success: 1923-1924 167

Getting Established: 1925-1927 188

On the Road to America: 1928-1929 212

Recognition: 1930-1933 227

First Retrospective and the Truro House: 1933-1935 251

An Intellectual Self-Portrait 272

Consequences of Success: 1936-1938 283

The Struggle to Paint: 1939 307

The War Begins: 1940 320

Failed Odyssey: 1941 333

Nighthawks: 1942 348

Mexico: 1943 358

War on the Home Front: 1944 367

The Aesthetic Divide: 1945 375

Anxiety: 1946-1947 385

Illness and Loss: 1948 400

Melancholy Reflection: 1949 408

A Retrospective Year: 1950 421

Mexico Again: 1951 436

Planning Reality: 1952 445

Reality: 1953 455

Taking Stock: 1954 474

Personal Vision: 1955 482

Time Cover Story: 1956 494

Toward Reconciliation: 1957-1958 508

Excursion into Philosophy: 1959 520

Protest: 1960 529

Prints Again: 1961-1962 543

Last Rehearsal: 1963-1964 554

Final Curtain: 1965-1967 569

Bibliographical Notes 581

Notes 583

Acknowledgments 645

Index 647

Editorial Reviews

From the thoughts and reflections in Jo Nivison Hopper's diary, Hopper authority and cataloguer Gail Levin constructs the most thorough biography of the American painter to date. What emerges is a picture of two artists in a stormy 43-year marriage marked by violence and sacrifice, cruelty and devotion. Since original source material from Hopper himself is almost nonexistent, Levin necessarily relies on his wife's point of view, but whether the man behind the ambivalent, melancholy vision of post-industrial age America is truly revealed here remains a matter of question. So it seems Hopper will, in many ways, remain a mystery. Of tremendous value, however, is Levin's drive to reconstruct the time, place, and mood from which each of Hopper's major works were created. An essential companion to Levin's five books on Hopper's work.

bn.com

This remarkable biography throws Hopper's art and life into sharp new perspective. Its focus is the laconic, introverted painter's stormy 43-year marriage to outspoken, gregarious Josephine (``Jo'') Nivison, herself an artist. Levin, art professor at Baruch College and the City University of New York graduate school, draws extensively on Jo Hopper's intimate diaries, which she kept from the early 1930s until shortly before her death in 1968 (just 10 months after her husband died). Through diary entries, we learn that Hopper ridiculed, degraded and occasionally beat or bruised his wife, that he refused to let her drive their car, that he thwarted her career even as she devotedly helped him find subjects to paint. Nevertheless, as his model, intellectual peer and fellow artist, she stimulated his creativity, and, according to Levin, they became partners and conspirators in a domestic drama of deep attraction and violent opposition that fed his disquieting vision of modern life. Illustrated throughout with photographs as well as scores of reproductions of both Hoppers' paintings and drawings. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Hopper's cool portrayals of American life transcend photographic realism and, like the oft-reproduced and -parodied "Nighthawks," have become icons of despair and a remote hope. This thorough work is by necessity a dual biography of Hopper and Josephine Nivison Hopper, the artist's wife of nearly 50 years. By relying on the diaries and letters of Jo, Levin has depicted the antagonistic symbiosis of the couple's marriage. Jo Hopper was an untiringthough not uncomplainingadvocate of her husband's art and the female model for the characters in most of his great works. Hopper is depicted as a misogynist who takes every opportunity to thwart his wife's already frustratedthough not wholly unsuccessfulpainting career. Living up to the "intimate" of the subtitle, Levin's biography has taken advantage of her sources to create a detailed and monumental ledger of the genesis and creation of Hopper's modern masterpieces. Levin, the author of numerous works on Hopper (including the recent Edward Hopper: A Catalogue Raisonn, Norton, 1995), has carefully balanced the artistic and personal lives of the Hoppers. Recommended for all art and biography collections.Martin R. Kalfatovic, Smithsonian Inst. Libs., Washington, D.C.

Library Journal

"Three essays appended add new significance.... demonstrates how Hopper’s wife was an artist in her own right and an important influence. She recorded a difficult marriage and the art world around her in her diaries. Hopper’s paintings are seen anew in light of her revelations. Libraries should purchase this..." ~Choice

From the Publisher