Edward Hopper was born in Nyack, New York. His father
owned a dry goods store and he worked there when he was growing up.
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He wanted to be an artist from the time he was young.
His parents,
fearing he could not make a decent living with his painting, encouraged
him to become a commercial artist.
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He studied at the New York School of Art for seven
years. Then he
worked as a commercial artist for many years until he was nearly forty
years old.
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In 1924 he married Josephine Nivison. She, also an
artist, was forty
years old. He was forty-two. Theirs was a stormy marriage. She felt
that he did not support her as an artist, and he thought she paid too
much attention to her cat and not enough attention to him. But they
relied on each other, and she modeled for him.
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In 1927 he and Jo bought a two-year-old Dodge car. It
was just one more
thing to fight about. He was not a good driver, but he didn't want her
to learn how to drive. When she finally did get a driver's
license, he didn't want her to drive the car. They were not the most
compatible couple.
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Hopper made three trips to Paris in his lifetime, but
his art reflects
mainly his life in America. He painted scenes of ordinary things you
would see in the city and the country; bus stations, office buildings,
restaurants, lighthouses etc. People in his paintings appear lonely and
absorbed in their own thoughts.
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In 1942 he painted Nighthawks. It was bought
by the Art
Institute of Chicago and he at last became a recognized artist. In the
following years he received many awards and medals for his work.
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He died in 1967 at the age of 85. Jo died just ten
months later. They were married 43 years.
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One of his lighthouse paintings was used on a postage
stamp in 1970 to
commemorate the 150th anniversary of Maine's statehood. You will enjoy
reading the history of The Two Lights of Cape Elizabeth.
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