Customer Reviews

Edward Hopper: An Intimate Biography

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Gail Levin, the curator of Hopper's works at the Whitney Museum in New York City, had the exclusive privilege of Josephine (Mrs.) Hopper's journals that extend from the 1920s to the 1960s. Jo was an artist herself and her frustrations are paralled with Edward's successes. Maybe too much of the book is about poor Mrs. Hopper and her unsuportive Husband, but Levin crafts the history so well that I didn't hold it against her. Each of the major oil paintings are covered from a making-of perspective which I found illuminating. I picked the book up originally just to glance through it, but I ultimately read the whole thing.

Gail Levin's book -Edward Hopper: an Intimate Biography- is about the life of a famous artist, Edward Hopper, as well as that of an obscure artist, Josephine Hopper (the former Josephine Nivison). Mrs. Hopper's detailed diaries, kept up faithfully for decades, are a major source of information for Levin's book. Since this necessarily puts the perspective of the book heavily on Jo's side of the story, no one should consider this one-stop shopping for finding out what made Edward Hopper tick. The Hoppers were a two completely opposite personalities who both complemented and aggravated each other. What I most like about Levin's book is that probably no one else has ever been in Jo Hopper's corner before Levin. Jo usually comes off as the stereotypical shrewish wife who dominated her poor henpecked husband. What a different picture is presented in this book! Instead, their marriage was much more complex, and the love/hate dynamics never seem to have leveled off during the many years they were together. Their story defies my own stereotypcial notion that as people grow old, their emotions level off and they are like two old bookends. Not with these two! I also enjoyed finding out that Edward Hopper was a Bette Davis fan, that he liked Jo to wear her hair down, that Jo's idea of cooking was opening up cans, and that Hopper had to haul buckets of coal up from the basement to feed the coal stove that heated their studio/living quarters. Much of these intimate details are provided courtesy of Jo's diaries, which served as an outlet and a refuge from her stolid husband. Perhaps best of all is the theatricality and eroticism suggested by Jo's descriptions of how they worked together as she posed for many of his paintings. In one of Edward Hopper's last paintings, Two Comedians, he portrays two shy actors taking a little bow: a loving tribute to their long and histrionic collaboration together, in life and in art.

Gail Levin's biography is a thorough review of Edward Hopper's life and work, spanning his early childhood, his struggles as an artist paying the bills by illustrating for magazines, his success, and his consistently remarkable artistic output. The surprise for me came from the revelation that his wife Jo, usually a marginal and minor figure, was a remarkable woman and an artist herself. Although one is tempted to wonder how her career would have gone if she hadn't married Hopper, Levin avoids sensationalistic speculation and, aside from occasional comments, sticks strictly to the facts.

Do not be intimidated by this book's length. I am not an art buff, but have become interested in Hopper and plan to attend the upcoming exhibition of his work at the National Gallery of Art in DC this Fall.
I approached this book with trepidation, but found myself drawn into it. I read it compulsively to the finish. There is tremendous detail presented in a simple austere style. It tries to make Hopper's life speak for itself. Thus, the book is a work of art about it's subject--a Hopper.
My only caveat is that you must also have a separate copy of Hopper's works (or at least many of them) to consult. Surprisingly and I think mistakenly, the book does not include copes of the many of the paintings. However, if you are familiar with his work, this is no impediment.

I won't dwell on the psychology of Hopper's relation with Jo, although much can be gained from his cartoons of her and her cat. No, what is interesting to me is her accounts of Hopper's methods. Specifically his attempt (ultimately highly successful) to find his own style and the detours he took through printmaking and watercoulours to reach his mature style. Nevin notices that Jo preferred vertical format and Edward horizontal format. I wonder why? Also that she posed for him but he never did for her. Given their lack of money for a model this is a highly practical reason for her lack of commercial success - her inability to create an inhabited scene, a significant drawback for an artist. This book tells more useful information than most biographies about technique. It is also interesting for me to read about the intense inertia he had about painting - that he went for months on end without painting anything - a problem I have too. This is an engaging book on many levels - for artists as well as art lovers.

Levin has titled her excellent biography of Edward Hopper most appropriately. The sheer volume of research she has completed in drawing the portrait of the enigmatic man and the disfunctional relationship he often had with his talented wife Jo is stunning and impressive. Levin balances articulate and insightful descriptions and anaylisis of Hopper's work with details from the artists life. Levin makes a fine case that Jo Hopper was every bit the artist her more famous husband was and deserves a good deal of recognition in her own right. Levin also does an impressive job placing Hopper within the greater historical context as she relates Hopper to his influences and vice-versa. An excellent read on a man who was difficult to know, unless it was through his art.

While the book was interesting it was also redundant of some of Ms. Levin's other works. Unfortunately, I believe she got at least one fact messed up, which, of course is curious, and, makes one wonder if anyone is doing any editing out there. At 45 bucks a pop, you'd think someone would be doing some fact checking. I believe I'm correct in pointing out that Christian Hopper was Edward Hopper's grandfather, not great-grandfather as she so states. His father was Garrett Henry Hopper. His father was Christian Hopper. Christian Hopper married Charity Blauvelt, and together they had Garrett Henry Hopper, who, together with Elizabeth Smith Hopper, had Edward Hopper. I thought some of the events like Jo's trying to get the car out of the garage were a riot, not to mention hearing about her cat, Arthur. Unfortunately, Arthur disappears about midway. Leaves you wondering if she named him after Chester A. Arthur, Arthur Godfrey, etc. He had an odd sense of humor, but he was Dutch and you know how they are. Not too abnormal, tho. Your typical stingy, grumpy man who hasn't a clue about women. Other than that, it was a good read.

A very long book about a very uninteresting man that painted flat lifeless pictures, and who was a pig to his wife...save your money....take your wife to dinner with the money this book costs!