Customer Reviews

Edward Hopper: A Catalogue Raisonne (Vol. 1-3)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you love Edward Hopper and must have the complete works, you'll buy this regardless of what I say. But if you are just a fan and want to see a bio and highlights there are better compendiums out there. While these books are bound well, the paper could be better quality as could the color reproduction. The biggest drawback is that the books don't lie flat for better viewing.

Again, if you want the complete, historical Edward Hopper - I'd consider this. But for the money and for someone who just admires his more popular works, there are better, and less expensive choices.

Another review here may have left out the most important point and purpose of a catalogue raisonné. This is a scholarly resource publication intended as a research aid and briefly, what you'll find here is a set containing four volumes, but only 3 are books; the fourth "volume" shown in the picture actually contains a Windows CD (reportedly NOT Mac compatible at the time of release, but that may have changed) that includes images of the works and scholarly information (provenance, exhibition histories, etc.). The first real print volume contains essays on Hoppers place in American art, all the illustration work, and the etchings. This volume is the weak link and my only disappointment. The biggest problem is that his etchings are displayed as "thumbnails" approximately 1.5 inches square. That's a shame because Hopper's etchings are beautiful; if you haven't had a chance to see them there is still one current Hopper show at the time of this writing. Recent Hopper exhibitions were held at Boston's MFA and the National Gallery in 2007, and the final leg of the tour is Chicago's Art Institute, ending in May 2008. Don't miss it. It's a fantastic show and the best thing Boston's MFA has done since their famous Sargent exhibition.

The other volumes contain Hopper's oils and watercolors. These images were broken out into two beautiful volumes designed as more typical art books, titled "The Paintings of Edward Hopper" which includes the complete oil paintings and The Complete Watercolors, also by Levin. You can find both volumes here, but being out of print the prices may be high (the Oils book is over $2,000 at this time) making the catalogue Raisonné a great deal. Both of the separate books are stunning, and worth viewing if you get a chance.

Levin and New York's Whitney Museum published Hopper's Catalogue Raisonné in 1995 with an introductory price of $600. The price increased to $750 on 1/1/1996 and remained there for over 10 years, effectively pricing it out of reach for many. That's actually not a surprise because this is not intended for those Hopper fans who want coffee table books. Again, you should understand what this is, and what this is not. If you really just want a typical art book, then I would agree with another review and suggest you collect every other book on Hopper by Levin (they're all excellent and you can get all the images of prints, illustrations, etc.), buy the catalog from the current show (MFA publication by Troyan et. al.), and the books by Hobbs, Mecklenburg, and even Marker (very inexpensive thin book with large prints)

A wonderful walk through the life and works of Edward Hopper. Gail Levin is up to her usual very high standards. The reproductions are very good and one can spend hours sifting through this wonderful collection of Hopper's life.