Silent Theater: The Art of Edward Hopper [Hardcover]

Walter Wells (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 5, 2007

Edward Hopper's (1882-1967) paintings are often described as belonging to a school of American realism, and were in part inspired by the works of European realists such as Gustave Courbet and Edouard Manet; however the underlying themes of loneliness, melancholy and silence that pervade his works also recall the surrealist, dream-like images of Giorgio de Chirico. These elements of the dream world and the subconscious - psychological states that are intrinsic to all people, however little we understand them - may be what make Hopper's works so universally compelling. The paintings embody a particularly American sensibility; Hopper's evocative depictions of both urban and rural settings, including theatre interiors, railways, restaurants, gas stations, hotels, street scenes and coastal landscapes, have become iconic images of early twentieth-century American culture. Edward Hopper studied illustration and painting in New York City, where he was taught by the artist Robert Henri. Travelling in Europe after completing his education, Hopper gained inspiration from the simple paintings of the realist school and his early works are testimony to this influence. 'House by a Railroad', completed in 1925, marked a turning point in Hopper's artistic development; he went on to hone his mature painting style, which included the use of stark contrasts of sunlight and shadow, the juxtaposed verticals and horizontals of architectural forms, large, bold shapes and often the presence of silent, emotionally detached figures. Walter Wells' informative yet eminently readable monograph explores the many facets of Hopper's art, discussing from various perspectives his etchings, watercolours and oil paintings, which represent a wide range of subjects. Particular attention is paid to the literary works from which Hopper took inspiration, as well as the ways in which the artist's own psychology and emotional states influenced his output.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In what he refers to as a discursive and meditative book, humanities and American studies scholar Wells explores why Edward Hopper, whom he calls a dour creator of suspended dreams, created iconic images that are among the most popular of 20th-century American art. In chapters with such titles as Vortices of Despair, Cold Embers and Isles of Refuge, he offers close readings of thematically linked paintings, proposing interpretations that are imaginative yet well reasoned. Hopper's spare realism often approached the surreal, and he returned to certain themes throughout his career: empty urban streets at dawn; women, either clothed or nude, facing a window that bathes them in harsh light; farmhouses on the edge of woodlands that seem ready to engulf them. Wells relies heavily on the literary sources that Hopper immersed himself in, and he quotes liberally from the large body of Hopper studies. The artist's popularity remains something of a mystery. Wells suggests that Hopper's pessimism touches deep veins of shared experience in the American psyche, but he comes closest to identifying the Hopper hold on the American imagination when he describes the paintings' ongoing interplay between a highly intellectualized ego and a volatile id. Color and b&w illus. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Walter Wells taught for 31 years at the California State University, Dominguez Hills, and has worked extensively as an author, reviewer and editor, focusing on the Arts.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 264 pages
• Publisher: Phaidon Press; annotated edition edition (June 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714845418
• ISBN-13: 978-0714845418
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 10.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #697,110 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning with rich commentary, July 17, 2007

By 

R. Miller "emeritusbookman" (Caldwell ID) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Silent Theater: The Art of Edward Hopper (Hardcover)

The author, Walter Wells brings this art and this artist (Edward Hopper) into an almost molecular intimacy. People who like Hopper (usually fiercly) are commonly aware that Hopper was more or less an unfriendly cuss...but his stark, dark, flat,impoverished, humorless, and altogether fascinating works prevail upon us... so we need to know more. Here it is, in (250 plus)very large pages! The most popular of Hopper's paintings have kept many of us more than curious, willing to seek and hang his abundantly available prints, because his subjects and style create mystery, tension, the wonderment of a story...untold. (Hence the title "Silent Theatre") World renown and celebrated works, "Railroad Sunset", "Early Sunday Morning" and "Nighthawks"--or "High Noon". are all inside; discussed, compared, associated and dissected. The book begins with with a charming introduction concerned with Hopper's childhood and youth; his affinity for theatre and literature. From there,the author takes us into a grand array of about 175 paintings, and many etchings, (and relate works by other artists), divided into 15 genres of Hopper's craft and psyche. It is this organization that brings us into what I think is a masterful, beautifully written, account of the Man... his loves, his life, his work -- early, middle and late. How do I say it? --The book "stays after" Hopper, and gets into each painting in granular detail. ( I won't finish it for weeks, or...months. It is vast and thorough...and one can open it anywhere and spend an enjoyable few minutes..or an hour!

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Silent Theater: The Art of Edward Hopper, August 11, 2007

By 

David Fine (Housatonic MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Silent Theater: The Art of Edward Hopper (Hardcover)

As a long-time admirer of the paintings of Edward Hopper, I was delighted to discover Walter Wells' new book, Silent Theater (Phaedon), a large-format compendium of Hopper's work with a wealth of large color illustrations of the major works and detailed textual commentary that is both scholarly and readable, that is informative, stylistically graceful, and blessedly free both of academic and postmodern jargon. The size of the book places it in what ordinarily goes by the name "coffee table" book, but this is far more than what that rubric, or other such volumes, suggests. Professor Wells' comprehensive and detailed text interprets (often quite originally) and in detail the major works and places the discussion of Hopper's art in the broad contexts of modernism and urban society and culture in the early half of the twentieth century as well as the psychological (e.g., Jung and Freud) and literary forces that influenced Hopper and provided the intellectual and artistic arenas in which he worked. The title suggests both the silence which is so much a part of his work--aloneness, loneliness, and alienation--and the narrative quality of his work which engages the viewer in an active role of reading meaning into the images, whose implications so often go beyond the edge of the canvas. This is a splendid work (at a reasonable price) and a welcome addition to the work that has been done on Hopper, one of America's most original and engaging artists.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A new way of seeing Hopper, December 20, 2007

By 

Claude Reich (Florianopolis, Brazil and Paris, France) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Silent Theater: The Art of Edward Hopper (Hardcover)

This book studies the art of Edward Hopper through its various influences: the influence of literature and the influence of the artist's mood and psyche, at the different periods of his life. Beyond the mere statement that his was an art of silence, the author manages to dig deeper and shows us how nothing in Hopper's works, whether paintings or etchings, was left to chance. The many top-quality illustrations add to the overall value of this book which is, in my opinion, one of the best available on the artist (along with the catalogue for the 2007 retrospective which also is a must-have).