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University of California Press

About the Book

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.

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

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
 

Reviews

“[A] comprehensive biography of the artist.”
American Artist
New York Times Notable Book
Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist
Wall Street Journal—One of Five Best Artist Biographies

"A nearly flawless account of a remarkable artist…. It is a compelling and accessible narrative for anyone even remotely interested in modern American art."—Michael Kammen, New York Times Book Review

"Gail Levin has given us, with obvious erudition and admiration, Hopper the 'creative artist' and Hopper the reclusive, cranky, brilliantly thoughtful, impossibly egoistic, highly industrious man…. In this engaging instructive biography, we meet him and his wife Jo, learn of their emotionally intense time together, follow their careers, and, no small feat on the part of their biographer, are left with respect for those two, respect for what they separately and jointly accomplished—a tribute to them and the one who hands them over to us."—Robert Coles, Washington Post Book World

"This biography is a masterpiece of its genre, magnificently well researched, scrupulous, exact, balanced, objective and providing cumulatively a real sense of daily life with Hopper and his wife, in the context of social, political, and artistic events of their time."—Bryan Robertson, Modern Painters

“Few [late paintings] have the power of Hopper's Two Comedians (1966). The tremendous virtue of Gail Levin's 'intimate biography' is that it prepares us to feel that power."—Arthur Danto, The Nation 

"A definitive biography."—Robert Hughes, Time