Customer Reviews

Edward Hopper: A Journal of His Work

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The synopsis for this title is incorrect. The text refers to the title "The Poetry of Solitute". THIS publication is a facsimile of Hopper's record keeping journals. It includes mostly thumbnail drawings, paint recipes and sales information for many of his works.

This is a wonderful glimpse into the development of Hopper's paintings. It appears to be a photocopy of Hopper's working journals, which were assembled and maintained by his wife Jo over a period of 30+ years. Jo wrote the text and Edward drew a thumbnail sketch for the paintings. For many of the paintings, the text includes the brand of paint (e.g., Rembrandt, Blockx, W&N), the type of canvas and the priming, the studio in which it was painted, and to whom it was sold. Jo frequently included a description of the place, the people, or the mood portrayed in the paintings.

If you're an artist or a serious Hopper fan, you'll enjoy this book.

I just want to add the note that this book contains a selection of the Hopper notebooks, not the complete works. However, it is, as far as I know, the only way these are published, and the pages are very interesting indeed. It is amazing to see how fine these little sketches are of his more famous paintings. It was meant to be a record, a simple catalog, but it reminds one that Hopper was an excellent graphic artist as well as a painter. i think it is a brilliant idea for any artist as a way of keeping touch with larger works instead of with photographs.