KEY ARTIST:
Hopper
KEY MEANINGS (possible key words for external exam questions):
Place
Identity
The everyday
Ideas about art
KEY CONTEXTS:
Social & Economic
The Great Depression 1929 |
Pearl Harbour Attack 1941 |
New York 1940s |
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THE GREAT DEPRESSION & WWII
- During the time of Edward Hopper, America had been through both World War I and II. Hopper's style was very influenced by the Depression and the fact that the entire country was in shock. - The Great Depression was the worst economic downturn in US history. It began in 1929 and did not abate until the end of the 1930s. While The Great Depression was an economic slump in America, this effected the people and classes around it. - Edward Hopper painted solemn, quiet scenes that reflected the mood of the rest of the country. The sharp decrease in world trade left many people out of work, without food, and homeless. Edward Hopper painted the reality of the situation, showing the realism in everything he painted. The solemn, and often solo scenes reflect the way the world was reacting to the economy after war. Since the world was in such chaos, the people could not afford a lavish, and expensive lifestyle. Everyone lived simply, and did not complain. In 1932, one out of every four Americans was unemployed. Edward Hopper continued to paint through WWII into the 1960's when he left his legacy to told. edwardhopper.weebly.com/historical-context.html |
URBANISATION & MODERN SOCIETY
- With a slow recovery from the Great Depression and the effects of the war still lingering on, American cities were growing into major urban centres with increasing population and modern developments. - Hopper’s empty places and solitary figures repeatedly suggested feelings of loneliness in the growing anonymity of contemporary urban life. - The presence of voyeurism in his work is reflective of the changing human relationships in the modern society. |
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AN AMERICAN REALISTEdward Hopper (1882-1967)No one captured the isolation of the individual within the modern city like Edward Hopper. His imagery of figures within urban settings go well beyond their role as modern cityscapes, exposing the underbelly of the human experience. So while his oeuvre officially falls within the rubric of Realism, it offers a far more evocative look at life between the World Wars. Indeed, by providing a minimum of action, stripping away almost any sign of life or mobility, and adding dramatic means of representation with striking lighting schemes in claustrophobic spaces, Hopper suggests something of the psychological inner life of his subjects, leading the way towards Abstract Expressionism. He injected significance, and the weight of the individual's existential being in the modern metropolis or in country life, into what otherwise might appear to be straight-forward images of everyday life.
www.theartstory.org/artist/hopper-edward/#nav |
Edward Hopper's Creative Process |
Great articles on Hopper |
A KEY PAINTING: "NIGHTHAWKS", 1942
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