Office at Night – we start to get an understanding that while Hooper was brilliant with certain subjects or ‘objectivities’, there were a few he avoided (such as freeways, factories, machinery and industrial plants). Beckmann went on to say the aim of his work as ‘achieving an objectivity of inner visions.’ Reflecting back over Hooper’s timeline, it is safe to say ‘transcendental objectivity’ applies directly to Hooper’s work (and in some aspects, his personal life). New York Movie – this short chapter talks about ‘transcendental objectivity’ – defined by Max Beckmann ‘a state of upheaval caused by experiences in WWI’. Gas – one of the more pictorial chapters, we get to see how the landscapes and paintery learnt in Paris have weaved their way into Hooper’s style regardless of the subject. Manhattan Bridge Loop – In this chapter, we learn Hooper’s ‘style was crucially shaped by the Paris experience’ although it lacked sharpness associated with the 1920s. This is also where you’re introduced to Robert Henni and see what an influence he was to Hooper.

This chapter started a biography of Hooper (p16) which was a bit out of sync but as you kept reading, it made more sense. There are 11 chapters, each related to one of Hooper’s paintings and each providing information not just on the paintings themselves, but where the artists was personally in his life and how those external factors influenced his life.Įarly Sunday Morning – Hooper originally wanted to name it after the street it represented (a stage set from Elmer’s Rice, Street Scene) but viewers prefer this name. While there is a lot of referencing, it doesn’t interfere with the flow of reading. The book is a cornucopia of information related to Hooper that is written in an academic form. Its clear Hooper plays an important roll in the timestamp of American painting, regardless of the categorical title used.

The French painters didn’t talk about ‘French scene’ or the English painters about the ‘English Scene’ … the American quality is in a painter – he doesn’t have to strive for it.” I think the American Scene painters caricatured America. I never tried to do the American scene as Benton and Curry and the Midwestern painters did. ‘The thing that makes me so mad is the ‘American Scene’ business. He then goes on to give a brief overview of Edward Hooper’s artistic history with insightful quotes from Hooper:

‘Is he a true Regionalist? Is his art great on account of its local color, or despite it? Or is his work not regionalist at all, and those who seek its origins in the American Scene are mistaken?’ Straight away, Wieland Schmied starts with provocative and thought provoking questions: Prestel Books are renowned for their quality and detailed art books and this one doesn’t disappoint.Įdward Hooper is the notorious realist painter that painted Nighthwawk (1942) the famous scene depicting big city loneliness in a diner.

Edward Hopper by Wieland Schmied