Edward Hopper, An American Realist Painter

Vincent van Gogh is one of the world’s most well-known artists. He was the son of a pastor and was brought up in a religious atmosphere. He thought his true calling was to preach the gospel like his father. He became a preacher in a small coal mining town. This is when he starting becoming very interested in the people and things that surrounded him. He became an artist at the age of 27.

Vincent Van Gogh is one of the most famous painters of all time. His style was post-impressionism. He was a Dutch man, born in an averaged sized town called Groot-Zundert, Netherlands. The reason he became an artist, and the thing that influenced him the most to become an artist was actually his mother. His mother was interested in nature, she did a lot of drawing and watercolors and that really influenced her son heavily and got him into art. When he was fifteen years old, his family was really struggling with their finances. Because of this, he was forced to get a job and help them provide. It ended up that his uncle owned an art dealership, so he got a job there.

“The Nighthawks”, by Edward Hopper is a unique form of art for the time period (1942) that it is based in because it is a very natural oil painting. Along with this piece of art, there is another significant oil painting done by the artist Edouard Manet called, “Corner Of A Cafe-Concert” (1880). These paintings both symbolize a restaurant setting during the time in which they were created but in doing this they have different structures based on what was happening around them during their time periods.

Edvard Munch is regarded as the pioneer of the Expressionist movement in modern painting. At an early stage Munch was recognised in Germany and central Europe as one of the creators of a new and different movement of art, that helped artists to express their feelings about all the social change that was happening around them.

Edward Hopper, who represents arguably the zenith of the 20th century, American Realism and the 19 century artist Vincent Willem van Gogh both painted vibrant and expressive paintings during their time. In 1942 Hopper created the piece “Nighthawks” and Van Gogh created “Café Terrace at Night”, also known as The Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum which was created in mid-September of 1888. Both of these compositions were painted using the same Oil on canvas medium. Both painting even have a similar setting one set in a diner the other at a Café but, both painting wanted to convey a different feel or tone. Looking closer at both works we see that, the line, shape, texture, and color allow us to recognize the difference between their styles,

At first glance Hopper draws our attention to the large French-styled house at the center of the painting. However upon closer inspection the clear blue sky and rusted railroad tracks offer equal insight into the main theme of the painting: alienation. The angle Hopper chose to paint from reveals two sides to the house: one side basking in the sunlight highlighting its remaining qualities, whilst the other is hidden deep in the shadows “ashamed of itself”. The poem states that

The painting, House by the Railroad, by Edward Hopper was completed in 1925. The house he painted was in the style of a Victorian house. The house was built next to railroad tracks. He painted House by the Railroad with oil based paint on a canvas. The artwork is a twenty-four by twenty-nine inches in a frame. When I look at this painting, the first thing I think of is where is it located? It looks like it is in the middle of nowhere but then again it looks like it is in a town because of the railroad tracks. The house is built next to the railroad tracks but there are no trees. The house contains several windows which I think would be neat. In this painting, he uses vertical and horizontal lines. He used vertical lines for the columns of the house and parts of the house. He also uses horizontal lines for parts of the house and the railroad tracks. Many of the lines Edward Hopper painted were medium size. The painting is painted with several figures lined up. If you look at the front of the house, you can tell that it is square on top of another square. The one on the bottom left is also a square but it is bigger. The picture and the lines are very soft. The lines in the picture never seem to overlap each other. The way the sun is in the picture makes it look absolutely beautiful. The sun could be either rising or setting by the look of the artwork. House by the Railroad was painted in the United States. Edward Hopper painted this picture after he came back

Hopper is a great choice for the 20th Century! While he is a popular Early 20th Century painter, he was not interested in the limelight. Many painters became popular public figures. Hopper was more like the figures in his works. There tend to be a few figures, but they all seem isolated or disinterested in those around them. Isolation and alienation were two ideas that were explored by Hopper. While this work suggests there is something of interest outside the canvas, we do not know what it is. In addition, whatever it is, the women is alienated from it by the window. At some point, we all feel this way, and I think that is why we connect with Hopper's work.

The dominant figure that steered the course of the Abstract Expressionist movement was the infamous painter Jackson Pollock. He was born Paul Jackson Pollock in Cody, Wyoming on January 28, 1912. He was the fifth and youngest son and grew up in Arizona and California after his family left him when he was a little over one year old. Pollock's artistic journey began at the Manual Arts School in Los Angeles, California where he joined two of his brothers. From there, he went on to New York to attend the Art Students' League after being convinced by one of his brothers whom also attended the school.

This picture can be broken down into two basics: the house and the train line. However, this is not really what Hopper is trying to convey to us. Life in this country is made of pure isolation in nature. The presentation of the train cutting across the land conveys how the train serves those in the country different from those in the city.

In the small town of Charleston, an older, lonely man sits at the bar in a Diner. A young couple sat at the other end drinking coffee. The woman was dressed nice in a pretty red dress and the man looking dapper with his blue suit and hat. The older man is a regular at this diner. He arrives at the same time, sits on the same stool, and is always dressed nice as if he were about to meet someone. He never did though. The waiter knows the older man by name and says, "Hey Hopper, anything new today or just the same old, same old?" whenever he would walk in. Hopper would just shrug his shoulders as usual and sit on his stool. He looks at the couple at the end of the bar and nods, while waiting for the waiter to get him his

Edvard Munch is regarded as a pioneer in the Expressionist movement in modern painting. At an early stage Munch was recognized in Germany and central Europe as one of the creators of a new movement in art. Munch and many artists of the time needed to express their feelings about all the change that was happening around.

Vincent Willem van Gogh was born on March 30th 1853, in Zundert, The Netherlands. Van Gogh spent his teenage year’s working for a firm of art dealers; however, he did not embark upon his art career until 1880. Originally, he worked only with dark and gloomy colors, until he came across the art movements developed in Paris known as, Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism (Meier-Graefe 4). Van Gogh than included their brighter colors and unique style of painting into his very own creations. He produced more than 2,000 works, including around 900 paintings and 1,100 drawings and sketches, during the last ten years of his life (Meier-Graefe 10). However, most of his best-known works were produced in his last

Furthermore, the setting contributes to the structure of the story, like cartilages in a human body. The café can be viewed as a workplace and also as a place of peaceful socialization. Each person deals with despair differently. Having the setting at a café where it was mentioned that it was quiet help structure the story that it is neither a depressing story nor, a happy story. The two waiters who were gossiping about the old man mentioned that he had committed suicide but, he was saved. Being in a café is different than rather being in a bar or anywhere else. The café signifies a place for space or time, depending on the person. The old man is not trying to cure his despair but rather subdue it. The setting could have taken place anywhere but it also could have affected the structure of the story differently. For example, when the older waiter was out trying to kill time due to insomnia, he went to a bar but, it was not soothing; therefore, he went home. This proves how the setting was able to support its main structure of having a café rather than a different place.

Hoppers work has subtle symbolism throughout most of his career. One image in particular was of a woman looking out the window, leaving the viewer as the voyeur. It’s said that she represents optimism for the new age and a brighter future rising from the depression but at the same time, leaves the viewer wondering if she will just be disappointed at the outcome. The people he paints in his interiors take on another personality. They become the protagonist in a mini drama.