Edward Hopper
All Around Gloucester
online digital catalogue
©2010 Catherine Ryan
Welcome!
Online digital exhibition and catalogue resource of all known Edward Hopper Gloucester works side-by-side with a contemporary photo(s) of the same location, curated analysis, custom digital Google map (also available in Google Earth), biography, list of works, and helpful links following the catalogue entries. I've been researching Edward Hopper since the 1980s when I first curated American print exhibitions.
INTRODUCTION: DID YOU KNOW EDWARD HOPPER RODE THE RAILS TO GLOUCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS?
Edward Hopper (1882-1967) traveled by public rail from his home and studio in New York City to Gloucester. His first documented visit was in 1912. Disembarking from the train at the Gloucester station, he walked to lodgings downtown on Middle Street. He wandered all around Gloucester sketching and painting landscapes, architectural motifs, and boats. Regular trolley schedules to Gloucester neighborhoods beyond downtown were as easy as taking the El or the subway. Hopper clearly used any public staircases and right of ways. Turn around from one of his Gloucester views and there's likely to be the same stone steps, sidewalk, or giant granite boulder that he climbed in his time. In 1928, his last summer in Gloucester, he owned a car, a benefit from the great response and sales of his magnificent 1920s Gloucester works.
Experience Gloucester as Hopper and others did—by train and on foot.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CATALOGUE
Numbers correspond to the map points.
#1 on the map is located in downtown Gloucester at the intersection of Main & Prospect Streets and is a great place to start.
1. Haskell's House. #316/318 MAIN STREET AT PROSPECT
Edward Hopper. Haskell's House. 1924. Watercolor. Gift of Herbert A. Goldstone. National Gallery of Art. Washington, DC. Exhibited at Rehn Gallery (scroll down past cat. 92) and bought by George Bellows.
*Street Address #316/#318 is easier to view from across the street and in front of Cruiseport. In 2018, the view opened up after tree removal.
Hopper and Jo Nivinson called it the Wedding Cake House. Most homes that Hopper painted are still standing and highlight the rich architectural legacy all around us. Seeing Hopper houses underscores the incredible depth of local inventory. Hundreds of homes exhibit Hopper like details: double chimneys, double frames, bays or doors, arched windows, repeated dormers, mansard or slanting roofs, and custom flourishes.
2. Gloucester Mansions. INTERSECTION OF PROSPECT AND MAIN
Edward Hopper. Gloucester Mansions. 1923. Watercolor. Art Institute of Chicago. Olivia Shaler Swan Memorial Collection.
This is a side view of Haskell's house--an abutter to another Hopper site, Parkhurst House, at 160 Prospect Street (next entry).
3. Parkhurst House. (Captain's House). #160 PROSPECT STREET
Edward Hopper. Parkhurst House (Captain's House). 1924. Watercolor. Private Collection.
Parkhurst residence | H. Parkhurst & Co | aka Fears' Wharf house
3A. The Captain's House. #160 PROSPECT STREET
Edward Hopper. Entry (The Captain's House), from one of Hopper's Artist's Ledger-Books. Ink and graphite on paper. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Gift of Lloyd Goodrich.
In the fall of 1913, Hopper began his painter's ledger, a diary of his artistic output that he amended throughout his career. After 1924, his wife, Jo Nivison, contributed to these entries.
Ledger annotation: 'The Captain's House' Back of Our Lady of Good Voyage on Side Street." Note discrepancy: From the street, this home on Prospect St. is located in front of the church's entrance a few door's away. It's in the direction 'behind the church' if you're standing on Mt. Vernon or Ledgemont. People describe the front of properties directly on the water--waterfront properties--as the vantage seen from the water and the street view as the back or side. See Mansard Roof , #68 on the list below.
4. Victorian House. #6 MARCHANT STREET
Edward Hopper. Victorian House. 1923. Watercolor on paper. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
Look past the intersection at Main and Spring Streets.
5. The Hill. #9 MARCHANT STREET
Edward Hopper. The Hill. 1926. Watercolor over graphite on paper. Eleanor Briggs. Private Collection. Note the Victorian House on the right.
PUBLIC STAIRS CITYWIDE
Hopper clearly used any public staircases and right of ways. Turn around from one of his Gloucester views and there are likely to be the same stone steps, sidewalk, or giant granite boulder that he climbed in his time.
Staircases in Gloucester will be repeated below with the specific artwork they're associated with. Most remain, although not all are still public.
WINCHESTER COURT PUBLIC STAIRS
American artist John Sloan described the Winchester Court/Spring Street public staircase as a "pedestrian thoroughfare connecting streets on two levels" .
6. Gloucester Roofs. #9 WINCHESTER COURT. WINCHESTER STAIRS/SPRING ST. STAIRS
Edward Hopper. Gloucester Roofs. 1928. Watercolor over graphite on paper. Collection of Mr. and Mrs. James A. Fisher. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The "Winchester" public stairs from Main Street at Spring Street connect one up to Winchester Street. From there it's a quick hop to Prospect Street.
*Update. This work landed in the late Paul Allen's collection and sold at auction.
6A. John Sloan's Town Steps. WINCHESTER STAIRS FROM MAIN STREET
John Sloan. Town Steps. 1916. Oil on canvas. Los Angeles Contemporary Museum of Art.
John Sloan depicted the steps looking up to Winchester Court from Main Street in Gloucester as they were or may have been (wooden, wide, and sociable) in his time, its public space attribute is prominent. Note the street sign "Spring Street".
"Highly satisfactory is my memory of this painting refreshed by the photograph. These wooden steps were a pedestrian thoroughfare connecting streets on two levels. The girls are healthy types of the native population. Rich in color and convincing in light. I’d like to see it again."- John Sloan
Hopper flipped the view of his friend's image a decade later. Metal railings are extant in the Hopper's work. In modern times the stairs are cement with a metal railing, and slimmer width complemented by landscaping on each side.
7. Street Corner. PORTUGUESE HILL: CORNER MT. VERNON STREET & PERKINS STREET.
Edward Hopper. Street Corner. 1923. Watercolor over graphite on paper. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Josephine N. Hopper bequest.
PORTUGUESE HILL: LEDGEMONT VIEW
Turn onto Ledgemont Ave. from Mt. Vernon for a quick walk to a must see, bird's-eye panorama of Gloucester harbor. This superb vantage was an ideal spot for many artists including Childe Hassam and Fitz Hugh Lane.
There is a cut through right of way path--cleared infrequently--that is a great vertical connector from (1) Main St. to (2)up the Winchester Ct. stairs to (3)Mt. Vernon to (4)the pedestrian path at Oak St. & Mt. Vernon to (5) the Ledgemont overlook.
*Update: Photo below dated Jan. 2011. Overgrowth was last cleared in 2015.
8. Adam's House. PORTUGUESE HILL: #25 MT. VERNON
Edward Hopper. Adam's House. 1928. Watercolor. Wichita Art Museum. (Note City Hall tower and harbor in the distance. Hopper played with the close-up; he makes the tower more prominent.) The house is located at the cross section of Mt. Vernon and Ledgemont streets.
9. Portuguese Church. PORTUGUESE HILL: MT. VERNON
Edward Hopper. Portuguese Church. Watercolor. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University. Continue downhill along Mt Vernon to see this view, about 15-17 Mt. Vernon. It's located below Ledgemont but before Oak Street.
Jo Nivinson's Our Lady. PORTUGUESE HILL: MT. VERNON
Jo Nivison. Our Lady of Good Voyage, Gloucester. 1923. Horizontal watercolor. (installation view. Edward Hopper House Museum, Nyack.) Hopper and Nivison sometimes painted the same subjects albeit in their respective styles.
Jo Nivinson's Our Lady. PORTUGUESE HILL: 142 Prospect Street.
Jo Nivison Hopper. Our Lady of Good Voyage, Gloucester. 1923. Watercolor. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
Hopper and Nivison sometimes painted the same subjects albeit in their respective styles.
10. House and Harbor.
Edward Hopper. House and Harbor. 1924. Watercolor on paper. Private Collection. According to the record book at the times of the Rehn exhibit: "Looking down from Portuguese quarter, harbor at right." (Location to be revealed. Stay tuned!)
11. Portuguese Quarter. PORTUGUESE HILL: HERRICK COURT STAIRS
Edward Hopper. Portuguese Quarter. 1923. Watercolor on paper. Private Collection. Portuguese Hill looking down onto harbor. Climb another public staircase from Herrick Court near the Crow's Nest on Main Street to get here. It's a close walk to other Portuguese Hill Hoppers and Haskell House on Main.
12. Prospect Street. #98-102 PROSPECT ST.
Edward Hopper. Prospect Street. 1928. Watercolor.
Sold for 2M at Christie's auction in 2008. Note Our Lady domes in the distance to help find your way.
13. Sun on Prospect St. #98-102 PROSPECT ST.
Edward Hopper. Sun on Prospect Street, Gloucester, MA. 1934. Oil on canvas. Cincinnati Museum of Art. The Edwin and Virginia Irwin Memorial (acq. 1959)
Here Hopper returns to the same imagery from the watercolor a decade earlier. Note Our Lady of Good Voyage domes in the distance to help find your way. From Main Street, peek up Chestnut to see the same houses.
13A. Ledger entry. #98-102 PROSPECT STREET
Edward Hopper. Detail (shows entry for Sun On Prospect Street) from one of Hopper's Artist's Ledger-Books. Ink and graphite on paper. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Gift of Lloyd Goodrich.
14. Abbot's House. #1 MAPLE STREET (CORNER OF MAPLE AND WARNER STREETS)
Edward Hopper. Abbot's House. 1926. Watercolor. New Britain Museum, CT.
15. Marty Welch's House. #31 CLEVELAND STREET
Edward Hopper. Marty Welch's House. 1928. Watercolor. Smithsonian.
Cpt. Marty Welch, Master Mariner, was a legendary Gloucester fishing commander and racer. Welch won the First Int'l Fishermen's Trophy (Am. Sch. Esperanto, 1920), a race for fishing schooners inspired by that yachting mainstay, America's Cup, which was branded as too leisurely in comparison. Skippering Sch. Elsie in 1921, Welch lost to Canada's Bluenose first race. (Bluenose would go on to best the Henry Ford in 1922, and then both level the playing field then quit tie in a heated controversy vs. the Columbia, Cpt. Ben Pine, in 1923.) The Welch home is located just off Maplewood.
Edward Hopper's art dealer, John Clancy--former employee, eventual director, and then Rehn Galleries owner following Frank Rehn's death--bought this Welch drawing from the artist.
Illustration: Edward Hopper Gloucester train images, cropped. Four are set in Gloucester and a fifth is a composite view from a train--likely from an East Coast line. Images detailed in the catalogue below.
16. Box Factory. CLEVELAND STREET
Edward Hopper. Box Factory, Gloucester. 1928. Watercolor and pencil on paper. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, 85.1935. Fred Buck confirmed that this building with the corridor span was razed.
17. Freight Cars. NEAR GLOUCESTER MBTA TRAIN STOP
Edward Hopper. Freight Cars, Gloucester. 1928. Oil on canvas. Addison Gallery of American Art, Philips Academy, Andover, MA. Gift of Edward Wales Root in recognition of the 25th Anniversary of the Addison Gallery. (On Maplewood Avenue. Note St. Ann's for reference; Hopper enlarges the spire.)
18. Railroad Gates. NEAR GLOUCESTER MBTA TRAIN STOP
Edward Hopper. Railroad Gates. 1928. Oil on canvas. Private collection. (Note St. Ann's for reference; Hopper emphasizes spire.)
18A. JO NIVISON. NEAR GLOUCESTER MBTA TRAIN STOP
Jo Nivison. Untitled (View from Maplewood past RR gate, homes on Shepherd Street , to St. Ann's steeple). 1928. w/c.
Nivison also emphasizes spire. Two left homes of the trio on Shepherd still standing. The one on the far left with double chimneys is easy to spot.
19. American Village. NEAR GLOUCESTER MBTA TRAIN ROUTE
Edward Hopper. American Village. 1912. Oil on canvas. Whitney Museum of American Art.
For Hopper, this imagined view and perspective was another composite: this time of New England towns as seen on his train commute back and forth between New York City and Gloucester, MA.
20. Gloucester Street. CORNER OF PINE AND CHURCH STREETS
Edward Hopper. Gloucester Street. 1926. Oil on canvas. Private Collection. Black and white photograph for the Smithsonian by Peter A. Juley & Sons. (Same corner near Hopper's UU vantage.)
Black and white photo documentation Peter A. Juley & Son for Edward Hopper's dealer, Frank Rehn Gallery.
21. UU Church. NEAR CORNER OF PINE STREET/CHURCH STREET
Edward Hopper. UU Church. 1926, Watercolor. Princeton Museum.
Note angle of weathervane, and chimneys. The UU church, 10 Church Street, looks great cropped from most anywhere!
22. Davis House. #25 MIDDLE STREET
Edward Hopper. Davis House. 1926. Watercolor. Private Collection.
Turn around to see the UU Church (Gloucester's historic Unitarian Universalist Church), 10 Church Street, a landmark which Hopper and many artists painted.
23. House on Middle Street. #38 MIDDLE STREET
Edward Hopper. House on Middle Street. 1928. Watercolor. Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH.
This home is a close walk from the Gloucester train stop. Note the stone border of the yard Then/Now.
23A. #42 MIDDLE STREET | BOARDING HOUSE
Boarding House: Note proximity to the Joan of Arc sculpture by Anna Hyatt Huntington, historic Middle Street, and grand Stacy Boulevard.
View looking back to Joan of Arc, the boarding house with Legion shadow, and the UU Church.
24. Andersons House. #18 WESTERN AVENUE (STACY BOULEVARD)
Edward Hopper. Andersons House. 1926. Watercolor. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Note that Stacy Boulevard is Western Avenue.
25. Blynman Bridge. #101 WESTERN AVENUE, STACY BOULEVARD
Edward Hopper. Blynman Bridge. 1923. Watercolor. Whitney Museum of American Art.
Blynman Bridge, known as 'The Cut Bridge', is on Stacy Boulevard ('Western Avenue'), near the Fisherman at the Wheel Memorial by Leonard Craske. The gaze is back in the direction of the Blynman Bridge across the Annisquam and powerful on multiple levels for the artist and the viewer. It's a view away from Gloucester harbor to "the Cut," a literal and metaphorical landmark connector--present and past. From Hopper's spot, familiar and admiring of Homer, the vantage suggests a remix sample: Here's looking at you, Artists! And Hopper was here. How could he not be with such strong material and natural composition? Activity and engineering on the water and street, a bridge spanning a river with double built structures and embankments, mirrored, utilities and an American flag flapping in the sea breeze: An everyday scene by Hopper makes an indelible impression.
Update since the 2010 collage: The seawall was bolstered which removed the grass and slope (2017). The bridge tender was razed. A new one built and relocated across the street.
26. Landscape with Bridge. ANNISQUAM RIVER TRAIN BRIDGE
Edward Hopper. Landscape with Bridge. 1923. Watercolor on paper. Whitney Museum of American Art. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
It's the Annisquam River Train Bridge, Gloucester, MA. It was generally attributed to "Maine".
Contemporary photo: ©Allegra Boverman, staff photo, Gloucester Daily Times. "Gloucester: The outbound commuter MBTA train travels very slowly over the Annisquam River Train Bridge on Wednesday afternoon just after leaving the Gloucester station, February 1, 2012."
Update: The bridge and wooden trestles and tender were razed in 2019. Demo and reconstruction are staggered. Conveyance is shut down in one direction while construction happens on the other. The original bridge was constructed in 1911 and altered in the 1930s after Hopper's documented visits in the 1920s, and again decades later, and now some 40 years more with the current demo.
27. Gloucester Houses. #11 HOVEY STREET
Edward Hopper. Gloucester Houses. 1926-28. Watercolor on paper. Private Collection.
27A. 11 HOVEY STREET journal entry
(Gloucester Houses on Hill) from one of Edward Hopper's Ledger-Books. Ink and graphite on paper. Whitney Museum of American Art. Gift of Lloyd Goodrich.
At the corner of Hovey and Hampden Streets where there are many Captain homes, high above Stacy Boulevard, overlooking our harbor.
ETCHINGS
Though not depicting Gloucester, other Edward Hopper 1923 etchings (such as 'Locomotive' and the 'Lonely House') were similar inspiration--trains and domiciles--that were the focus for many of his Gloucester images.
28. ABOVE STACY BOULEVARD, CAPTAINS ROW
Edward Hopper. Summer Twilight. 1920. Etching.
Example of print featuring architectural details (arched windows and shutters, double chimneys, steeples, Victorian style, sloped foreground) and a composition that would be featured in his next body of work: the Gloucester drawings, prints and paintings of the 1920s.
Surroundings look like Captain's Row, Gloucester, MA, Nyack, and Long Island.
29. Sultry Day. ABOVE STACY BOULEVARD AT CENTENNIAL
Edward Hopper. Sultry Day. 1928. Watercolor on paper. Private Collection.
Note in the distance: Stage Fort with Tablet Rock in Hopper's drawing. The roof with the distinctive skylights is unchanged. I wrote about this drawing when it came up for sale at auction.
30. Circus Wagon. STAGE FORT PARK
Edward Hopper. Circus Wagon. 1928. Watercolor on paper. Private Collection.
photo: C. Ryan. Installation view ADAA exhibition
30A. JO NIVISON. STAGE FORT PARK
Jo Nivison. Watercolor on paper.
On view Edward Hopper House Museum in Nyack
31. Circus tents. STAGE FORT PARK
Edward Hopper. Circus Tents. c.1928. charcoal and graphite on paper
32. Destroyer and Rocky Shore. STAGE FORT PARK: HALF MOON BEACH
Edward Hopper. Destroyer and Rocky Shore. 1923. Watercolor. Whitney Museum of American Art. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
Views of the unmistakable crescent outcropping at Half Moon Beach from multiple spots were offered in stereoview bundles. Turn around to climb public stairs right up to Tablet Rock, off to the playground, Welcome Center, or bathrooms.
THE FORT
The Fort has a fantastic perimeter walk around its neighborhood: public stairs to a summit view; Pavilion Beach access; a jewel of a playground right on the water; wrap-around views of the harbor, Ten Pound Island Lighthouse; and fishing boats. Walk by Charles Olson's home. Look across to Rocky Neck and see Hopper's Mansard Roof.
33. House on the Beach. THE FORT: #15 BEACH COURT
Edward Hopper. House on the Beach. 1923. Watercolor. Private Collection.
Note: Nearby St. Peter's, Chamber of Commerce and other Hoppers done on the Fort.
34. Italian Quarter. THE FORT: COMMERCIAL STREET
Edward Hopper. Italian Quarter. 1912. Oil on canvas. Whitney Museum of American Art.
Artist and friend George Bellows bought this painting and Hopper's Haskell House.
35. Untitled Back Streets. THE FORT: COMMERCIAL STREET
Edward Hopper. (Untitled Back Streets, Gloucester). Watercolor. Whitney Museum of American Art. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
Heading out of Fort Sq. before the turn. Or Commercial Street, in the direction heading into the Fort, past Neptune. Note the man and the wheelbarrow in the lower left of the drawing.
36. Houses at the Fort. THE FORT: FORT SQUARE ROAD, UP PUBLIC STAIRS
Edward Hopper. Houses at the Fort. 1924. Watercolor. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
This is 'Tony's House' from the back and above. If you climb the public stairs at Fort Square Road/Commercial Streets, you can glimpse the rocks by the house (right), and see the 2 chimneys. With the distant harbor and view across to Lookout Hill, it's an iconic Hopper nod to the uncanny similarity with his core Nyack view across the Hudson, his forever horizon line.
PUBLIC STAIRS | PEDESTRIAN THOROUGHFARE TO THE 'SUMMIT'
37. Rocks at the Fort. THE FORT
Edward Hopper. Rocks at the Fort. 1924. Watercolor. Private Collection.
Note: its location comes before #16 Fort Square Road
PUBLIC STAIRS IN THE PAST. NOT NOW.
38. Tony's House. THE FORT: #16 FORT SQUARE ROAD
Edward Hopper. Tony's House. 1926. Watercolor. Albright Knox Museum of Art.
Note the double chimneys, stone steps, and wall. Face away from the harbor to see this scene. The home's exterior was painted white since Hopper's 1923 drawing, but the architectural bones, grate, and stonework remained.
Update: The home was remodeled. The shingles are gone and new additions constructed, another fresh coat of paint so to speak as in 1926 (and again after Hopper's drawings). Renovation ahead of a real estate sale. Bones of the structure echo, but removal of several fixed elements make it tougher to id. Still a captivating and sentinel motif.
Update: Beauport Hotel opened where the Birdseye building was razed.
39. Houses in the Italian Quarter. THE FORT: #16 FORT SQUARE ROAD
Edward Hopper. Houses in the Italian Quarter. 1923. Watercolor. Smithsonian.
Same house, different view, three years earlier. Turn around with your back to Gloucester harbor and face 'Tony's House' at the angle shown here. Note the hint of city skyline on the lower left, and slight slope along the right of the house. The double house and outhouses were irresistible and inevitable subjects. When above and behind the house it's easier to see the extant chimneys. - Catherine Ryan, 2010.
Update: Shingles gone. The home was for sale in 2020, sold, and renovated. Blue cladding is recent. In the contemporary photo from 2010, the white building on the left was the former Birdseye factory, empty for decades. I shared photos with the new blue facade here, and will add photos to this catalogue entry, too.
40. Gloucester Mansion. THE FORT
Edward Hopper. Gloucester Mansion. 1923 or 1924. Watercolor over graphite on paper. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Bequest of John T. Spaulding.
Closer look: Detail of man leaning against the dory.
41. Back Streets of Gloucester. THE FORT
Edward Hopper. Back Streets of Gloucester. 1928. Watercolor. Whitney Museum of American Art.
Note the light fixture. The shape of the first house is present in other homes around town; you can look for similar styles on the roads near the railroad station.
42. House on the Shore. THE FORT
Edward Hopper. House on the Shore. 1924. Watercolor. Whitney Museum of American Art. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
Note the sands, steps, and light fixture. Sold at auction in 2014.
43. Italian Quarter. THE FORT: BEFORE CAPE POND ICE
Edward Hopper. Italian Quarter. 1923. Watercolor on paper. Private Collection.
Leaving Cape Pond Ice to Commercial Street, look to your left; the distinct granite boulder patch in relation to foreground building's red foundation with 1 window remain. (One of my favorite IDs. Catherine Ryan, 2010 )
44. OUTHOUSES
Edward Hopper. Outhouses. 1923. Watercolor over graphite on paper. Whitney Museum of American Art. New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
Exact address unknown, possibly East Gloucester, downtown, or the Fort. Next image is Stuart Davis. Backyards, Gloucester. 1916. Oil on Canvas.
Update: to learn more about the history of Gloucester outhouses in American paintings continue reading here
44A. Stuart Davis double outhouses
Stuart Davis. Backyards, Gloucester. 1916. Oil on Canvas
45. GLOUCESTER HARBOR
Edward Hopper, Gloucester Harbor, 1926, watercolor on paper, SBC Collection, Southwestern Bell Corporation, San Antonio, TX.
This drawing was featured in the group show American Pastoral at Gagosian's London gallery in 2020.
GLOUCESTER HARBOR & BOATS TODAY
Walk by docks, dry docks, and piers downtown and all along our harbor. See boats tied up at Rose's Marine and tugs tied up at Cruiseport. The Gloucester HarborWalk pathway just past St. Peter's and in front of Latitude 43* is one of many good spots to view a wide range of boats. Walk along Stacy Boulevard for the main Gloucester Harbor view. There are ample enticements across the inner harbor, past Ten Pound Island: Rocky Neck, Eastern Point, Dogbar breakwater, and the back shore are scenic year-round.
*UPDATE: Restaurant now known as Minglewood
Harbor Cove: Town Landing Today | by Joey Ciaramitaro
Nocturne view from the Gloucester Harbor Walk and morning by Joey Ciaramitaro, photographer, publisher/founder Good Morning Gloucester, co-owner lobster wholesale firm. From the landings, see whale watching boat, fishing vessels & traps, dories, all manner side-by-side and mixed together.
HARBOR & BOATS by EDWARD HOPPER
Edward Hopper painted many boats in the 1920s with as vivid detail as he did with houses and structures.
Years prior, he painted a tug with a black smokestack (1908) held in the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art, as well as sailboats and other boats from Long Island and elsewhere prior to 1912. A pen & ink drawing of Smith's Dock, down the hill from his family home in Nyack, dated circa 1900, sold at Christie's auction in 2012. The one painting he sold in his lifetime prior to the Gloucester drawing and painting sales was Sailing from the Armory Show. The work was acquired by the Carnegie Museum years after.
The next 3 works (2 drawings & 1 oil) were not set in Gloucester and are added here to illustrate his lifelong enthrallment with boats:
Trawler and Telegraph Pole (NOT Gloucester), 1926, watercolor, Princeton Museum. Princeton also has Hopper's Gloucester image of the UU Church in their collection
Smith Dock, Nyack circa 1900
Sailing. before 1913
Edward Hopper. Smith's Dock (Nyack. A block from his childhood home.) 1900. pen & ink drawing. Sold at auction in 2012.
Edward Hopper. Sailing circa 1911-1913. oil. Likely NY or memory. Could be Gloucester! Sold during the Armory Show 1913. Eventually acquired by the Carnegie Museum of Art.
46. THE HENRY FORD
Edward Hopper. The Henry Ford on the Ways, Gloucester. drydock. 1923. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Josephine N. Hopper Bequest .
47. THE HENRY FORD
Edward Hopper. The Henry Ford. 1923. Etching. (Possibly viewed from rocks near Eastern Point)
HISTORIC PHOTO: Charles E. Dennison photos. (Spectators along Eastern Point Watching Yacht Racing, the Henry Ford among them), c.1920s. Copyright Fredrik D. Bodin*, Main Street, Gloucester.
RIP Fred Bodin. When I created this exhibit 2010-2012, Fred was thrilled to be part of it.
48. THE HENRY FORD
Edward Hopper. Drawing for the etching, The Henry Ford (1923 etching). Note reversed image. Whitney Museum of American Art. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
The fishing schooner was built to race and win vs. the Canadian Blue Nose. There were several international races.
49. EDWARD HOPPER. TALL MASTS.
Edward Hopper. Tall Masts. 1912. Oil on canvas. Whitney Museum of American Art. New York.
GLOUCESTER HARBOR & HARBOR COVE: TOWN LANDING. BOATS.
The red building is the approximate location of Cape Pond Ice today.
50. Boat and Docks. GLOUCESTER HARBOR. HARBOR COVE. BOATS.
Edward Hopper. Boat and Docks. ca.1912. Drawing. Whitney Museum of American Art. New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
HOPPER'S LOVE OF BOATS
Expressed in profiles of the artist since the 1930s.
Edward Hopper grew up a block from the Hudson in Nyack, NY. As a boy, he dreamed of becoming a naval architect. He tried to build a catboat at the age of 14.
51. Trawler. GLOUCESTER HARBOR | BOATS
Edward Hopper. Trawler. 1923. Watercolor on paper. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
52. Two Trawlers. GLOUCESTER HARBOR | BOATS
Edward Hopper. Two Trawlers, Gloucester. 1923-1924. Watercolor on paper. Whitney Museum of American Art. New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
53. Beam Trawler. GLOUCESTER HARBOR | BOATS
Edward Hopper. Beam Trawler, The Seal. 1923. Watercolor on paper. Private Collection.
54. Bow of Beam Trawler. GLOUCESTER HARBOR | BOATS
Edward Hopper. Bow of Beam Trawler. Watercolor on paper. Private Collection.
Note crisp details of the boat; and in the background, a yellow building with dormers and three chimneys.
55. Trawler in Dock. GLOUCESTER HARBOR | BOATS
Edward Hopper. Trawler in Dock. 1923. Watercolor on paper. Private Collection.
56. Deck of Beam Trawler. GLOUCESTER HARBOR | BOATS
Edward Hopper. Deck of Beam Trawler. 1923. Watercolor over graphite on paper. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Bequest of John T. Spaulding
57. Funnel of Trawler. GLOUCESTER HARBOR, BOATS
Edward Hopper. Funnel of Trawler. 1924. Watercolor on paper. Whitney Museum of American Art. New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
58. Good Harbor Beach.
Edward Hopper. Good Harbor Beach, Bass Rocks. 1923. Watercolor and pencil on paper. 11-3/4 x 18 inches. Inscribed "For Mrs. Lillias Rose", gifted in 1959.
Sold in 2007 at auction to a private collector.
58A. GOOD HARBOR BEACH
Entry (Good Harbor Beach) from one of Edward Hopper's Ledger-Books. Ink and graphite on paper. Whitney Museum of American Art. Gift of Lloyd Goodrich.
59. Jo sketching. GOOD HARBOR BEACH
Edward Hopper. Jo Sketching. 1923. Watercolor. Whitney Museum of American Art. New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
At the footbridge side of the beach. Contemporary photo: C. Ryan. Artist sketching his own Hopper scene.
60. House above river. GOOD HARBOR BEACH
Edward Hopper. House Above River. 1924. Watercolor on paper. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
Note: You can see this view if you're near Good Harbor Beach Club.
61. Briar Neck. GOOD HARBOR BEACH
Edward Hopper. Briar Neck (Good Harbor, Gloucester). 1912. Oil on canvas. Whitney Museum of American Art.
Note: Many similar coves can be found below Salt Island Road (far side of beach opposite Bass Rocks), and most anywhere along the coast. The rocks can be as tell tale as fingerprints. The painting also looks like the Cape Ann Scenery coastal stereoviews of Bass Rocks and other points of interest with glacial features they packaged. The boarding houses and hotels promoted public access to the rocks and photos document a history of picnics, recreational fishing, and climbing.
I identified this exact cove in 1990.
62. New England House. MARSH
Edward Hopper. New England House. 1923. Watercolor on paper. Private Collection.
Holy trinity of house, hill and rock. Note the stretch of marsh below and whisper of water (ocean? river?) top left. Perhaps the spot was Old Nugent Farm looking towards Good Harbor Beach, or across town by Annisquam River (by the Cut--the marsh rendered similarly see #82 "Squam) or above Washington.
I think I have the spot--will update here.
62A. MARSH
View across the marsh at the back of Good Harbor Beach to Nugent Farm with giant granite boulder.
63. Dead trees. NEAR GOOD HARBOR BEACH, OLD NUGENT FARM
Dead Trees. 1923. Watercolor on paper. The Warner Collection of Gulf States Paper Corporation. Tuscaloosa, AL.
Note: According to the artist's recollections, this location was near a pig farm. Old Nugent Farm was a pig farm.
64. Gloucester Harbor. EAST GLOUCESTER: ABOVE CRIPPLE COVE
Edward Hopper. Gloucester Harbor. 1912. Oil on canvas. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.
Note: Hopper shows a view looking across to Portuguese Hill from East Gloucester hills, with distant glimpses of rooftops, St. Ann's, sails, boats, and a bit of Gorton's building.
65. Gloucester Factory. EAST GLOUCESTER: ABOVE CRIPPLE COVE
Edward Hopper. Gloucester Factory and Harbor. 1924. Watercolor on paper. Private Collection.
A bird's-eye view looking down on what was Gorton's smokehouse, near Good Morning Gloucester today. You can just see the left edge of Cripple Cove in the drawing.
66. Eastern Point. EAST GLOUCESTER: EASTERN POINT
Edward Hopper. Eastern Point. 1923. Watercolor on paper. Private Collection.
This work is perhaps Hopper's first watercolor in Gloucester: showing the Eastern Point Lighthouse from the water side; the bell is no longer there.
67. LIGHTHOUSE MOTIF
Edward Hopper. (lighthouse). 1915. Etching. Whitney Museum of American Art. New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest. Impression pulled posthumously.
Note: Likely ME; perhaps composite of ME and MA. In Gloucester: compare it to Ten Pound and Eastern Point lighthouses.
68. The Mansard Roof. EAST GLOUCESTER: ROCKY NECK. #2-4 CLARENDON STREET.
Edward Hopper. The Mansard Roof. 1923. Watercolor over graphite on paper. Brooklyn Museum. Museum Collection Fund 23.100. (At the corner of Clarendon and Wonson Streets, a very nice walk on Rocky Neck.)
illustrations: 1873 historic photo; 2010-12 photo block of the home for The Mansard Roof , 2-4 Clarendon St., Rocky Neck as it looks today
from a great distance via the Fort, downtown Gloucester, looking across and over to Rocky Neck
from the street side at Wonson & Clarendon Streets
from the street to the left of the house (across a neighbor's yard to the harbor)
by boat--closer to Hopper's angle
winter sky and leaning pole, snow dusting on ground
This historic house on Clarendon is a beauty! Edward Hopper customized his take on Gloucester vistas, as did artists before him. Compare Hopper's impression with a vintage photograph of the Gardner Wonson home (built circa 1873) in horse and buggy days, a scene cropped for commercial keepsake photographs published by the Procter Brothers who were flying high in the 1870s [collection New York Public Library].
In 1846 entrepreneurial publishing dynamos and developers, brothers Francis with George H. Procter, set up a book and printing shop. By 1850 they moved to Main Street. As the business grew, their news dispatch morphed from “Procter’s Able Sheet” to “Gloucester Advertiser” to “Cape Ann Advertiser”, and then in 1888 to “Gloucester Daily Times”. By 1892 the printing press for the newspaper branch alone could churn out 4000 papers, eight pages long, every hour (see Pringle). Any small business operating for decades and successive generations will suffer its share of adversity. Procter Brothers was leveled not once but twice by fire, and rebuilt. They published or were the go to printers for all manner of media: books, periodicals, photographs, lithographs, even a circulating library from their headquarters in 1874; building back and then some after that 2nd conflagration.
The Wonson home was featured in a tourist photograph series, Cape Ann Scenery. This home was an architectural attraction Hopper may have seen or heard about before he stepped foot off the train for his first visit to Gloucester, and so on with other spotlights. The Whiting's summer boarding house at Bass Rocks was included in the Artistic Series, #4 and other packets, accommodations as sponsors and advertisers of yore and/or a ready market for keepsakes.
With an abundance of built and natural wonders, and uncanny similarities with Nyack, his boyhood home, Gloucester was a good fit for the artist. Based on the visual output, he was inspired by its symbolic places despite their familiarity in souvenir and fine arts. Deliberately even, I'd wager. Artists known world wide that he admired made a mark here. His trove of Gloucester works is as thorough a portrait of place that I've seen or that he set his focus to.
Hopper was here.
One last note: Hopper likely used a combination of stereoviews, photographs, magnifiers and field lenses of some sort (telescope, binoculars) on site or off for reference when necessary. (Jo Nivison as well. In particular see the rendering of the Our Lady of Good Voyage Madonna and ship.) Some nuance, detail and access is too distant even with perfect vision without tools of the trade.
Double elements-- including specific designs that add architectural character to New England homes--inhabit Hopper's work in a variety of media. Stereoviews are double image format by design and offered a novel virtual reality. They played some part in Hopper's Gloucester ideas whether solely as impetus for location scouting and magnification--or enhancing lifelong themes and serving as foil--is impossible to confirm. And yet. The overlap seems intentional. Stereoviews were captivating. Also mechanical, ubiquitous, fleeting and past. Created by hand and mind, the physicality of Hopper's art thrums in contrast, complex and riveting to successive generations.
- Catherine Ryan, 2012
I published an excerpt here in 2021.
69. Captain Gardener K. Wonson. EAST GLOUCESTER: ROCKY NECK. #2-4 CLARENDON STREET.
Edward Hopper. Captain Gardener K. Wonson. Charcoal drawing. Amon Carter Museum. Ft. Worth, TX.
Note: This drawing also depicts the Mansard Roof house, showing a different perspective.
DOUBLE HOUSE AS THEME
Edward Hopper. Second Story Sunlight. 1960. Oil on canvas. Private Collection.
Three decades after Gloucester works, note Hopper's iconography motifs: doubles/pairs, architectural details, horizontal landscape band, trees, contrasts, corners, light & shadows, and Jo. Location too is often a composite.
The setting of Second Story Sunlight is not one specific place as with some of his work from earlier decades, but rather an amalgam of all and re-imagined.
70. Double House. EAST GLOUCESTER: #172-174 EAST MAIN STREET
Edward Hopper. Double House. 1925. Drawing. Minneapolis Museum of Arts.
Note: Near the North Shore Arts Association. Address also abbreviated to 172 E. Main - 174 E. Main
Read about one renowned former homeowner Clarence Manning Falt (1861-1912), poet and fine art photographer, here
71. Houses at Gloucester. EAST GLOUCESTER: #164 EAST MAIN STREET, GLOUCESTER HOUSES AND CORNER
Edward Hopper, (Houses at Gloucester), c.1923-28, charcoal and graphite on paper, 18 x 20
164 E. Main
72. Landscape: Hills and Trees. EAST GLOUCESTER: LANDSCAPE HILLS AND TREES
Edward Hopper. Landscape: Hills and Trees. 1926. Watercolor. Whitney Museum of American Art. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
Thought to be East Gloucester. Location unknown.
73. EAST GLOUCESTER: TREES
Edward Hopper. Trees East Gloucester. Oil on canvas. Private Collection.
73A. EAST GLOUCESTER postcard
Vintage postcard. Patches Willows, East Gloucester. 1919. Collection Catherine Ryan.
74. Landscape with Rocks. GLOUCESTER LANDSCAPE WITH ROCKS
Edward Hopper. Landscape with Rocks. 1924. Watercolor over graphite on paper. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
I will share this location soon.
75. EAST GLOUCESTER: UNTITLED LANDSCAPE
Edward Hopper. (untitled landscape). Watercolor on paper. Unfinished. Whitney Museum of American Art. New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
Note: Thought to be E. Gloucester at time of catalogue raisonnes.
76. APPLE TREE GLOUCESTER
Edward Hopper. Apple Tree. 1923. Watercolor. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
Note: Location unknown. Possibly near Good Harbor Beach, Rogers Farm near the boarding house, Nugent Farm, East Gloucester, or Dogtown.There are many possible Gloucester locations with apple trees. The site of O'Maley was a farm and random single third or fourth gen apple trees are still bearing fruit.
77. Cemetery. OAK GROVE CEMETERY, NEAR #52-54 POPLAR STREET
Edward Hopper. Cemetery in Gloucester (Oak Grove). c.1923-28. Conte crayon on paper. Gift of Robert L. and Elizabeth French, 2009. Collection of Cape Ann Museum, Gloucester, MA.
Note the distinct grave with leaf on the lower right, and tree stumps--thanks George,--branches of second tree, homes in background, and granite post, all still visible.
78. House at Riverdale. 334 WASHINGTON STREET
Edward Hopper. House at Riverdale. 1928. Watercolor with graphite sketch on white, medium weight, roughly textured wove paper. Brooklyn Museum. Bequest of Anita Steckler. 2003.
Note: Located after Addison Gilbert Hospital, just before Wheeler's Point.
79. Cape Ann Granite. DOGTOWN. GLOUCESTER, MA
Edward Hopper. Cape Ann Granite. "In back of a summer colony called Riverview". I ascribed this to Dogtown commons.
Update: The painting came up for sale at auction and I wrote about its history and the art market in 2017:
"Cape Ann Granite is one of the rare Hopper paintings remaining that's not currently held in a museum. There are more than 110 Gloucester houses and vistas depicted by Edward Hopper. Advance promotion of Christie's upcoming Rockefeller auction have yet to illustrate the painting, although the artist's recognizable name is mentioned in every press release and the painting is included in the world tour highlights exhibit. The catalogue for the sale is not ready.
FORMER OWNERS OF CAPE ANN GRANITE HAVE IN COMMON CONNECTIONS TO HARVARD, BANKING AND ART COLLECTING
Billionaire and philanthropist, David Rockefeller (1915-2017), was a Harvard graduate and longtime CEO of Chase Manhattan bank (later JP Morgan Chase). His art appreciation began early, influenced by both parents and the Rockefeller family collections. His father was the only son of John D. Rockefeller, a co-founder of Standard Oil Corp. His mother, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller (1874-1948), helped establish the Museum of Modern Art, and the fund in her name helped secure Hopper's Corner Saloon for the permanent collection. Several family members were Trustees. After his mother's death, David assumed her Trustee seat.
Like David Rockefeller, the first owner to acquire Cape Ann Granite was a Harvard graduate, art collector and financier, about the same age as Rockefeller's parents, and Hopper. Benjamin Harrison Dibblee (1876 – 1945) was the scion of California businessman, Albert Dibblee. The family estate "Fernhill" was built in 1870 in Ross, California (later the Katharine Branson School). Benjamin H Dibblee was a Harvard graduate (1895-1899), an All-American..." Continue reading the complete article here.
79A. CAPE ANN GRANITE, GLOUCESTER, MA
Entry (Cape Ann Granite) from one of Edward Hopper's Ledger-Books. Ink and graphite on paper. Whitney Museum of American Art. Gift of Lloyd Goodrich. (Artist paper indicates: "In the back of a summer colony called Riverview", perhaps by Pole Hill, Dogtown, or by Nugent.
This detail shows a catalogue cut out with a black and white reproduction of Hopper's Cape Ann Granite opposite his ledger entry. I assert that it's Dogtown Commons.
80. Cape Ann Pasture. DOGTOWN
Edward Hopper. Cape Ann Pasture. 1928. Watercolor on paper. Yale University Art Gallery, CT. Anonymous Gift 1930.
Note: Artist paper indicates: "In the back of a summer colony called Riverview", perhaps by Pole Hill, Dogtown, or Nugent. I believe it's Dogtown.
80A. American Landscape
Edward Hopper. American Landscape. 1920. Etching.
Impressions of this print are found in several museums including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Note the horizontals and the architectural style of the building. This image is NOT Gloucester; see cows in Cape Ann Pasture for a Gloucester scene with cows done several years after this etching.
81. Hodgkin's House. #505 WASHINGTON STREET
Edward Hopper. Hodgkin's House, Washington Street. 1928. Oil on canvas. Private Collection. (Just before Gee Avenue.)
I wrote about this painting making the news in Jan. 2018, New York Times features Edward Hopper #GloucesterMA painting in a feature about Laurie Tisch's collection.
81A. Hodgkin's House in the ledger book
81A. 505 WASHINGTON STREET. Entry (Hodgkin's House) from one of Edward Hopper's Ledger-Books. Ink and graphite on paper. Whitney Museum of American Art. Gift of Lloyd Goodrich.
Annotated: "Hodgkin's House 28 x 36 (the Bird House) Cape Ann. Called the bird house, built by Hodgkins about 1850. Little, compact house on road to Annisquam. Deep mouldings. Gabled end in light, front in shadow...sold to Mr. and Mrs. John Shippard 1929..."
82. House by 'Squam River. ABOVE CENTENNIAL (LOOKING ACROSS AND PAST NEWELL STADIUM AND THE GLOUCESTER HIGH SCHOOL NOW)
Edward Hopper. House by 'Squam River, Gloucester. 1926. Watercolor over graphite on paper. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. Bequest of John T. Spaulding. (Mill River)
Former salt marsh. View across landfill (encouraged long before Hopper was here in 1912) behind two homes that are still standing. New Balance Field at Newell Stadium is there now and Gloucester High School is to the right.
83. Houses of 'Squam Light. #98 WIGWAM ROAD, ANNISQUAM SECTION OF GLOUCESTER
Edward Hopper. Houses of 'Squam Light, Gloucester. 1923. Watercolor over graphite on paper. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Bequest of John T. Spaulding.
Annisquam Lighthouse off Norwood Heights.
84. Squam Light. #98 WIGWAM ROAD, ANNISQUAM SECTION OF GLOUCESTER
Edward Hopper. Squam Light. 1912. Oil on canvas.
Annisquam Lighthouse
85. Shacks Lanesville. LANES COVE, LANESVILLE SECTION OF GLOUCESTER
Edward Hopper. Shacks Lanesville. 1923. Canton Museum of Art, Canton, OH. From the James C. and Barbara J. Koppe Collection.
Photograph: see Save our Shack, Gloucester Daily Times, April 14, 2012, last Scandinavian fish shack still standing to be restored by community and Good Morning Gloucester April 11, 2012
86. Gloucester Houses. #7-9 EASTERN AVENUE (BEFORE INTERSECTION WITH LEES AT MAIN STREET)
Edward Hopper. Gloucester Houses. 1923. Watercolor on paper. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
Another location I was thrilled to identify: Junction where Eastern Ave/Rt. 127 meets Main Street by Lee's. In 2017 the building was in foreclosure and available for purchase.
GLOUCESTER
In Gloucester, Edward Hopper painted everything: trawlers, shacks, cottages, great homes, boulders, outhouses, landscapes, factories, and a portrait of his new wife, Jo.
87. Jo Sleeping. GLOUCESTER
Edward Hopper. Jo Sleeping. 1924. Watercolor on paper. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
88. Reclinging Nude (Jo)
Edward Hopper, (Untitled- Reclining Nude) c. 1923-28, watercolor on paper, Whitney Museum of American Art, Josephine N. Hopper bequest.
There are additional studies/drawings of Jo reclining and pillows, and other figures including c.1902 reclining nude seen from back view
89. GLOUCESTER SAILBOAT WITH FIGURES
Edward Hopper. Sailboat with Figures (Docked Boat). 1923. Watercolor and graphite on paper. Unfinished. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
90. Seaside House. GLOUCESTER HOUSE AND BOATS
Edward Hopper. House and Boats (also known as Seaside House). 1923. Watercolor on paper. Hunter Museum of American Art. Chatanooga, TN. Gift of the Benwood Foundation. 1976.3.17
91. GLOUCESTER BEACH COTTAGE NEAR ROCKS
Edward Hopper. Beach Cottage Near Rocks. 1923. Watercolor on paper. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
92. GLOUCESTER HOUSE BY THE SEA
Edward Hopper. House by the Sea. 1923 or 1924. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
Note: Location imprecise, but it feels like both the back shore and the far side of Good Harbor Beach as well as Magnolia, where Hopper's eminent dealer, Frank Rehn, owned property. Selecting the final comp and will add back here soon.
Sea Reaches. ART DEALER FRANK REHN IN MAGNOLIA, GLOUCESTER.
OAKES AVE. MAGNOLIA. GLOUCESTER. REHN'S 'Sea Reaches'
Magnolia illustrations for context: 1885 map; detail from 1887 map rendering, collection Boston Public Library; 2023 Google maps
Frank Rehn has been part of my research since the 1980s when I began curating shows of American art from the early 20th century and handling work by artists once represented by Rehn Gallery and other dealers, collectors and museums from that time period. For example, Rehn helped build John T. Spaulding's collection. Spaulding and his brother were great collectors and donors to the MFA in Boston.
Frank Rehn's parents bought adjoining lots of prime Magnolia property back in the late 1890s for a vacation home. As a result, his father Frank Knox Martin Rehn (F.K.N. Rehn), a noted marine painter, could build a summer compound and studio gallery ideally situated on a corner and facing: the 400 Oceanside Resort & hotel, the ocean, the direction of the Aborn, and more ocean. Magnolia was a booming summer destination and the main artery to points of interest farther back in Gloucester (until the Highway 128 and Piatt Andrew Bridge). His mother, Margaret S. Rehn, nee Selby, is recorded on the purchase, 'Margaret S. Rehn', 1896. The address then was Oakes Field.
Frank Rehn and his family held on to a portion of the original family property, Sea Reaches, until the end. Hopper would have visited the Rehn studio in Magnolia or passed by; certainly after Rehn Jr.'s representing him and the robust sales in the late 1920s. I suspect that there were more visits to Gloucester then what is documented by sales or recorded in correspondence.
After Frank Rehn's parents died and resulting and inevitable changes to assets and cost of living, Rehn continued as a Magnolia property owner, in later years on the 'QT' and downsized. He pushes back on paying various bills and town assessments. In 1940 he details a fire next door to appeal for an adjustment which describes the property held at that time:
"...property immediately facing my home on the Point was sold for approximately one-third of what you have my house assessed at. I have endeavored to lease the property summer after summer, but failing to do so I have occupied the property myself with my family. Over a year ago the house adjoining mine, originally built by my father, was rendered uninhabitable by fire. This remained as an eye-sore and a fire menace during the whole of last summer. I am reliably informed that nothing has been done to this and that it is in infinitely worse shape this spring, being a breeding place for rats and skunks. Not only does this further deplete any sales value that may be left in my property, but it renders it both impossible for leasing and for occupancy on my part. Certainly this situation would seem to warrant in all justice some action on the part of your Board in reference to the taxes which I will be called upon to pay..." John Rehn to Gloucester's Assessor, 1940
The Oceanside hotel burned down in 1958.
93. GLOUCESTER GROUP OF HOUSES
Edward Hopper. Group of Houses. 1923-24. Watercolor and graphite on paper. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest. deaccessioned in 2023
Precise Gloucester location unknown. Possibly the Fort, East Gloucester, or by Stage Fort.
Deaccessioned and sold at auction in May 2023, I wrote about the drawing: "Do you know a cluster of homes perched like the subjects in this classic Edward Hopper watercolor painted here in Gloucester 100 years ago? Hallmark motifs and themes pair up throughout this bright and sunny scene: outhouse on the left and brush edged to the right (“nature calls”), passage between buildings and boulders, light and sharp shadow, double windows and curtains, roofline and sky, line up of chimneys, and the mystery of cropped views over the hill and off to the sides." Continue reading here.
94. GLOUCESTER BELL TOWER
Edward Hopper. Bell Tower. 1923. Watercolor. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
Note: Although this watercolor may depict another town in New England, there were models downtown when Hopper was here. Compare the fire station in the drawing with the Gloucester Fire Station Bell Tower in the next photo and examples on Prospect and a few blocks away.
94A. PHOTOGRAPH
Compare the fire station in the drawing with the Gloucester Fire Station Bell Tower and pictures of the tower where the fraternity on Prospect is now.
95. House with Fence. EAST GLOUCESTER PLUM STREET
Edward Hopper. 1923. House with Fence. Watercolor on paper. Private Collection.
For determining location, note architectural specifics like the distinct chimneys, stone steps, fences, and window details.
96. GLOUCESTER HOUSE WITH FENCE
Edward Hopper. House with Fence. 1923. Drawing. Private Collection. Location coming soon.
97. GLOUCESTER HOUSE AND TREES
Edward Hopper. House and Trees. Drawing. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
98. GLOUCESTER HOUSE WITH BAY WINDOW
Edward Hopper. House With Bay Window. 1923. Watercolor on paper. Private Collection.
Researching possible locations and will add here.
99. White House with Dormer.
Edward Hopper. White House with Dormer. 1923-24. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
Looks like East Gloucester and it is.
100. Houses. GLOUCESTER
Edward Hopper. Houses. 1924. Watercolor and graphite on paper. Unfinished. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
101. GLOUCESTER FACTORY AND SHED
Edward Hopper. Factory and Shed. 1928. Watercolor. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
102. GLOUCESTER ROCKS AND HOUSE
Edward Hopper. Rocks and House. 1924. Watercolor over graphite on paper. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
103. GLOUCESTER HOUSES WITH TOMBSTONES
Edward Hopper. Houses With Tombstones. 1926. Watercolor over graphite on paper. Unfinished. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
104. Small Town on Cove. (Rockaway Hotel. Oakes Cove.) EAST GLOUCESTER.
Edward Hopper. Small Town on Cove. 1924. Watercolor on paper. Unfinished. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
Rocky Neck. Thought to be 'New England' or composite and completed at the time time of Gloucester works. I knew it was the Rockaway and the Sibley family and Liz Fletcher cinched it, helping make that case with vintage family photographs and their memories and perspective of their time spent in East Gloucester. The title was ironic.
104A. East Gloucester: Rockaway Hotel. Oakes Cove.
104B. Sibley family photos with Rockaway Hotel.
COURTESY PHOTO: “Rocky Neck, View of Rockaway Hotel”, © 1957 black and white photo by Peggy Sibley courtesy of the Sibley family with, special thanks to artist, Liz Fletcher. East Gloucester, walkway, Rockaway Hotel, Rocky Neck
105. GLOUCESTER
Edward Hopper. Old Houses, Gloucester. c.1920s. drawing, private collection
106. OUTHOUSES (Gloucester)
Edward Hopper. Sketch. Shacks on the skyline, pencil drawing auctioned at Doyle's.
107. Gloucester boats at wharf. BOATS
Edward Hopper. Gloucester Boats at Wharf. circa 1920s. pencil drawing.
108. Rocky Shore and Water. NEW ENGLAND QUARRY (like Halibut Point)
Edward Hopper. Rocky Shore and Water. c.1923-24. Watercolor on paper. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
Thought to be ME; however looks like many quarry spots in Gloucester and Cape Ann, including Halibut Point, etc.
109. Rocks. NEW ENGLAND QUARRY
Edward Hopper. Rocks. 1926. Watercolor. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
Thought to be Maine. Looks like many Gloucester and Cape Ann spots, too. Hopper had done rock/coast of Maine pre 1920, and again after Gloucester.
110. Essex Farmhouse. #RT. 133 ESSEX, MA
Edward Hopper. Essex Farmhouse. 1929. Oil on canvas.
Essex Farmhouse was for sale in 2016. Installation view ADAA art fair, 2016- Catherine Ryan
110A. Ledger
RT. 133 ESSEX, MA
Essex Farmhouse: detail of Essex Farmhouse from ledger page. Entry (Essex Farmhouse) from one of Edward Hopper's Ledger-Books. Ink and graphite on paper. Whitney Museum of American Art. Gift of Lloyd Goodrich.
Note: leaning tree, a favorite vertical element
Annotated above: Summer 1929 Cape Elizabeth + trips to Essex{ House at Essex, Barn at " "
111. RT. 133 ESSEX, MA
On the right page: an illustrated catalogue page for Edward Hopper. Farm at Essex. Oil on Canvas is tipped in / inserted into ledger: Entry from one of Edward Hopper's Ledger-Books. Ink and graphite on paper. Whitney Museum of American Art. Gift of Lloyd Goodrich. The annotation on the left page reads "Barn at Essex"
111A. SHORE ACRES
On the same ledger page Illustrated Catalogue page for Edward Hopper. Farm at Essex. Oil on Canvas inserted into ledger: Entry from one of Edward Hopper's Ledger-Books. Ink and graphite on paper. Whitney Museum of American Art. Gift of Lloyd Goodrich:
Shore Acres circa 1929 watercolor is annotated on the same page and sold at auction. An east coast moment, the landscape looks a bit like the bend in the road in Gloucester where Barn Lane on the left merges with Thatcher Road and the marsh to the right (as it may have looked long before landfill where Stop & Shop is and further on the left where Nugent Farm was developed), or further along 127A heading into Rockport (with Long Beach/Cape Hedge off right).
112. EAST COAST COMPOSITE/PROHIBITION
Edward Hopper. Detail from one of Hopper's Artist's Ledger-Books. ink, graphite on paper. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Gift of Lloyd Goodrich.
Entry shows "Bootleggers", completed in 1924 or 1925, at the height of Prohibition and scofflaws, and Hopper's Gloucester images. Note composite compositional and architectural elements. Many of Hopper's works were painted in his New York City studio and carried favorite motifs of places that surrounded him throughout his life: Nyack, Cape Cod, Maine, and Gloucester. "Bootleggers" is in the Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH; the ledger is in the Whitney's collection.
112A. The Bootleggers. EAST COAST COMPOSITE/PROHIBITION
Edward Hopper. The Bootleggers. 1925. Oil on canvas. Currier Museum of Art. Manchester, NH. Museum Purchase: Currier Funds, 1956.
Note 3 chimneys, exaggerated a bit to 3 crosses; house structure--from Paris to Nyack to MA to Maine--; landscape in the background; boat; figures; all are composite Hopper iconography. More boats to follow.
112B. EAST COAST/PROHIBITION/BOAT COMPARISON FOR BOOTLEGGERS
COMPARING BOATS
For comparisons to the boat that is seen in Bootleggers: see Edward Hopper. The Cat Boat. 1922. Etching. (Gloucester meets NY with a Homer pitch and the textured shore across the water--the view across the Hudson from Nyack.) Not Gloucester: also see 1929 ME Coast Guard Boat drawings and the Docked Boat (Sailboat with Figures) Gloucester watercolor from 1923, #89 in this list.
113. SALEM, MA
Edward Hopper. Salem. Drawing. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
114. 5 A.M. EAST COAST COMPOSITE
Edward Hopper. 5AM. 1937. Oil on canvas. Wichita Art Museum.
The Wichita Art Museum also has Hopper's Gloucester drawing of Adam's House (1928), Conference at Night (1949), and Sunlight on Brownstones (1956)--one from each of 4 decades.
Note about composite icons along the East Coast from NY and MA to ME:
Beyond Hopper's Blackwell's Island, see repeated elements in the Salem factory drawing as compared with this painting, and note the design and scale the 'sparkplug' lighthouse of Gloucester's Ten Pound Island Lighthouse--where Winslow Homer stayed--which can be viewed from Stacy Boulevard and Stage Fort Park (photos: US Coast Guard); also the Tarrytown lighthouse across the Hudson from Nyack which was formerly sited 1/2 mile from shore (photos: Library of Congress). ; and the striped Maine lighthouse.
114A. EAST COAST COMPOSITE: 5AM
Detail from one of Hopper's Artist's Ledger-Books. ink, graphite on paper. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Gift of Lloyd Goodrich. (Entry shows 5AM)
115. TOPSFIELD
NIGHTHAWKS SKETCH (NOT GLOUCESTER!)
Edward Hopper. Sketch (for diner in "Nighthawks"). ca.1942. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Josephine N. Hopper Bequest.
Note horizontals and preliminary blocking and compare to how Hopper applies these elements similarly in the works from Gloucester, MA. The painting: Edward Hopper. Nighthawks. 1942. Oil on canvas. Art Institute of Chicago. Friends of American Art Collection. Arguably his most well known work.
LIST OF EDWARD HOPPER'S GLOUCESTER WORKS
Gloucester titles by year listed below. List is incomplete and will be added/updated. These may not be his only visits to Gloucester, but they are confirmed ones.
1912
American Village
Briar Neck, Gloucester
Tall Masts, Gloucester
Italian Quarter
Squam Light (Annisquam Lighthouse)
1923
Eastern Point Lighthouse *perhaps Hopper's first w/c here
Dead Trees
Beam Trawler, The Seal
Deck of Beam Trawler
Gloucester Mansion
Houses of Squam Light
Shacks at Laneville
Haskell's House
New England House
Italian Quarter
House in Italian Quarter
House With a Bay Window
House with a Fence
Mansard Roof
Portuguese Church
Portuguese Quarter
Apple Trees
House and Boats
Victorian House
Street Corner
Houses on Beach, Gloucester
Group of Houses
Back Street Gloucester
White House with Dormer Window
Gloucester Houses
Outhouses
House by the Sea
Bell Tower
The Pine Tree
Small Town on Cove
Jo Sketching
Blynman Bridge
Trawler in Dock
Trawler
Two Trawlers
Destroyer and Rocky Shore
Rocky Shore and Water
Sailboat with Figure
Railroad Crossing
The Henry Ford, etching
Twilight 1920 etching
1924
Houses
Bow of Beam Trawler
Funnel of Trawler
Gloucester Beach, Bass Rocks
Jo Sleeping
House on the Shore
Gloucester Factory and House
Gloucester Mansion
Haskell House
House and Harbor
Parkhurst's House
Rocks at the Fort
Landscape with Rocks
Beach Cottage Near Rocks
Rocks and House
House Above a River
1925
Double House, Gloucester, w/c
Bootleggers, 1924 OR 1925 (see ledger Whitney Museum; see painting Currier Museum)
1926
Gloucester Street Abbots House
Andersons House
Davis House
Tony's House
UU Church
The Hill
Houses by Squam
Gloucester Harbor
Trees, East Gloucester
Landscape
Landscape: Hill and Trees
Houses With Tombstones
Houses on a Hill
1928
Cape Ann Granite
Freight Car
Hodgkins House
Adams House
Back Street Gloucester
Box Factory, Gloucester
Cape Ann Pasture
Circus Wagon
Gloucester Roofs
House on Middle Street
House at Riverdale
Marty Welch's House
Prospect Street
Railroad Gates
Factory and Shed
Sultry Day
1934
Sun on Prospect Street, 1934
5AM (composite), 1937
MORE 1920s
As 1) museum holdings are combed and 2)future sales trickle through, look for this list to be updated.
Edward Hopper (Mansard House/Wonson House), Gloucester drawing, Amon Carter Museum of Art, Ft. Worth, TX
Edward Hopper Cemetery (Oak Grove), Gloucester, drawing, Cape Ann Museum, Gloucester, MA
Edward Hopper (Gloucester houses and corner at 164 East Main Street), c.1920s, charcoal and graphite drawing
Edward Hopper (Old Houses, Gloucester), c. 1920s, drawing
GO FIND SOME!
Most structures that Hopper painted are still standing and catalogue the rich architectural legacy all around us. So many homes and places in Gloucester exhibit Hopper-like subject material: double chimneys, double frames, bays or doors, arched windows, repeated dormers, mansard or slanted roofs. Go find some!
update 2021: a few sites were changed or razed since documentation for Edward Hopper all around Gloucester , 2010-2012 © Catherine Ryan.
American artist
EDWARD HOPPER (1882-1967)
The Whitney Museum of American Art has an enduring connection with Hopper. Josephine Nivison, artist and Edward Hopper's spouse, died in 1968, a year after Hopper. She donated their estate, including their artist's records and papers to the Whitney Museum of American Art.
20 years prior, in the mid-1940s and led by distinguished Director Lloyd Goodrich (and uber Hopper booster), the American Art Research Council reached out to many sources in order to compile a complete catalogue of Hopper's known work. The Hoppers cooperated and offered access to their ledger books (mostly of SOLD works of art), exhibition lists, gallery records, museum and private collector papers, published material, and more. They entrusted the ledgers to Goodrich who gave them to the Whitney.
Hopper's work generated scholarship and a robust retrospective schedule. Lloyd Goodrich curated the first Hopper retrospective at the Whitney in 1950. The Whitney mounted a second retrospective in 1964. See links below for more.
The Whitney with curator Gail Levin published more catalogue raisonnes from this amazing repository. A photographer, too, Levin documented photos in the 1970s of representative side-by-side comparisons of Hopper places with Hopper works of art, and in 1985 published the book, Hopper's Places.
"Hopper's pictures synthesize myriad observations in a way that eludes the single photograph."- Gail Levin
Some of Hoppers images are composites. When asked if he identified a specific house for a painting, Jo remarked: "He did it out of his head. He had seen so many of them." She added into his detailed Artist-Ledger books approximate dates as to when works were painted in the studio--in part to underscore this point.
Hopper had champions before coming to Gloucester including: Guy Pene du Bois, Lloyd Goodrich, John Sloan, Charles Burchfield, George Bellows (who bought Haskell's House from the important Rehn show after Hopper's 1923 Gloucester output), Martin Lewis, and his wife and fellow Robert Henri student, Jo.
1923 was Gloucester's tercentenary. If you were an artist back then, the social media of the time beckoned you to Gloucester for possible exhibits, audience, commissions, and sales.
Hopper's prints infused his signature style by the time he came back to Gloucester in 1923. He mastered light long before.
In Massachusetts, stop into the Cape Ann Museum and the MFA for more, and visit Truro on the other Cape. Other curators, historians, and writers to look to include: Virginia Mecklenburg, Barbara Haskell, Avis Berman, Adam Weinberg, David Kiehl, curators from the Art Institute and MFA, the National Gallery, and Carl Little.
- Catherine Ryan, 2010
*Update 2012/2015/2017/2022: voluminous holdings not transferred as part of the original Hopper bequest were acquired for an undisclosed partial gift & purchase amount decades later by the Whitney (2012), Provincetown Art Museum (2013) and Hopper House Museum in Nyack. I wish some came to the Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester. Other than that I agree with Gail Levin regarding attribution and support her request for access to the material in order to supplement her original Hopper and Nivison work.
I'm continuing to focus on the Gloucester span.
LINKS and SELECT FURTHER READING I'D RECOMMEND
2012 (work in progress. moving over from prior website)
*selection of updates since first published back in 2012
See what was on Edward Hopper’s and Jo’s easels. Two minute excerpt of vintage 1960s footage featuring Edward Hopper and Jo working at their former studio and home at 3 Washington Square North and visiting Washington Square Park, all right by NYU, Greenwich Village.
I published this video on Good Morning Gloucester on July 22, 2014
BRIAN O'DOHERTY
American Masters: the voice and the Myth, 1974 [Hopper, Davis, Pollock, De Kooning, Rothko, Rauschenberg, Wyeth, Cornell]
--
See Walker Art Center 1961 entry below.
Also, look for Brian O’Doherty’s documentary, Hopper’s Silence (Dir. Brian O’Doherty. The National Endowment for the Arts, 1980. DVD). Hopper felt O’Doherty was one who understood his work-- "Hopper was contained."
(3 min excerpt below)
O’Doherty is a man of many creative pursuits. His earlier artwork from the 1950s and 1960s, under the pseudonym Patrick Ireland, and new work, on exhibit in 2014 at the Soho gallery, P!, 131 Bowery, NYC. Brian O’Doherty Reviews Patrick Ireland (1990) is also worth a look! http://vimeo.com/77810181
WALKER ART CENTER. 2014 Two minute mini video combining vintage 1961 Edward Hopper interview with paintings evolving from related drawings. Created for the exhibition: Hopper Drawing: A Painter’s Process at the Walker Art Center, previous year at the Whitney. The Walker Art Center video features clips from 1961 interview by Brian O’Doherty, excerpt from Invitation to Art III: #32 Conversation with Edward Hopper, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, footage courtesy Thirteen Productions, LLC, WNET NY and WGBH-TV Boston
http://www.walkerart.org/channel/2014/edward-hoppers-creative-process
EDWARD HOPPER
Edward Hopper's Article about Sloan: "John Sloan and the Philadelphians" Arts April 1927
Edward Hopper's Article about Burchfield: "Charles Burchfield" Arts 1928
Notes on Painting, 1933
AVIS BERMAN
Edward Hopper's New York, 2005
MoMa
Paintings by Nineteen Living Americans, 1929
Alfred Barr. Edward Hopper Retrospective 1933
WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART MAJOR EDWARD HOPPER SURVEYS | LLOYD GOODRICH
Amer. Art Research Council with Lloyd Goodrich mid 1940s
Lloyd Goodrich, 1950
Lloyd Goodrich, 1964
Lloyd Goodrich with Elizabeth Streibert, 1971
Edward Hopper: Selections from the Hopper Bequest, Whitney Museum of American Art. Lloyd Goodrich. Exhibition and catalogue. Sept-Oct. 1971. Elizabeth Tweedy Streibert, Museum Researcher, catalogued and photographed all those thousands of works.
Lloyd Goodrich Edward Hopper. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1971.
http://www.dictionaryofarthistorians.org/goodrichl.htm
WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART
Guy Pene du Bois. Edward Hopper. American Artist Series. 1931 (and the Creative Art article "The American Paintings of Edward Hopper")
Selected in First Whitney Biennial, 1932
Lloyd Goodrich Edward Hopper, 1950
Lloyd Goodrich Edward Hopper, 1964
Lloyd Goodrich Edward Hopper, 1971
Gail Levin. The Complete Prints. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1979.
Gail Levin. The Art & the Artist (travel show), 1981
Gail Levin. Edward Hopper: A Catalogue Raisonne, multi volume
1994
Whitney's 75th Anniversary show an entire floor dedicated to Hopper, 2006
Carter Foster (editor), et al. Edward Hopper, 2009 Travel show [Whitney; Palazzo Reale, Milan; Fondazione Roma Museo, Rome; Foundation de l'Hermitage, Lausanne]
Barbara Haskell Modern Life: Edward Hopper and His Time, 2009 (Germany: Hirmer Verlag) accompanied exhibition on view at the Whitney in 2010 "Modern Life: Edward Hopper and His Time" (smaller than travel show 2009)
Adam Weinberg, with Deborah Lyons and Brian O'Doherty. Edward Hopper: Paintings and Ledger Book Drawings. 2012 (Munich, Germany: Schirmer/Mosel)
Carter Foster, Hopper Drawings. 2013
Update: The Whitney Museum of American Art mounted a Hopper drawing survey in 2013. In 2022, the museum created a digital map with select New York locales that inspired Hopper as part of their 2022 Hopper's New York exhibition.
GAIL LEVIN
An Intimate Biography. New York: Knopf, 1996.
Hopper's Places first edition 1985 & Second edition (green cover) pictured above 1998
SMITHSONIAN NMAA
Fantastic Smithsonian American Art's An Edward Hopper Scrapbook
http://americanart.si.edu/hopper/
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART
Mecklenberg, Virginia M. Edward Hopper: The Watercolors. Washington, DC: National Museum of American Art, 1999.
NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART
http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/audio-video/video/edward-hopper.html
TATE GALLERY OF ART, LONDON 2004
Edward Hopper retrospective
FOR MORE ON NIVISON, SEE: BARBARA NOVAK "THE POSTHUMOUS REVENGE OF JOSEPHINE HOPPER," Art in America, 1996
GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER ARTICLE FROM 2004 ABOUT ARTIST JO NIVISON, A SUCCESSFUL PAINTER WHEN THEY MET, 2004
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2004/apr/25/art1
FOR MORE ON NIVISON, SEE: GAIL LEVIN "THE REDISCOVERY OF JO NIVISON HOPPER" . [NIVISON TAUGHT PUBLIC SCHOOL, NYC, 1906-1921]
ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO (SELECTED CHRONOLOGY)
http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/exhibitions/hopper/chronology
Home to arguably Edward Hopper's most recognizable work of art Nighthawks , featured in popular cultural crossover successes such as the hit board game Masterpiece (Parker Bros. of Massachusetts, 1970) and the movie Ferris Bueller (1986).
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON 2007
Carol Troyen. Edward Hopper Retrospective in partnership with the National Gallery of Art and Art Institute of Chicago; with essays by Carol Troyen (MFA); Judith Barter (Art Inst.); Elliot Bostwick Davis (MFA); Janet Comey (MFA); Ellen Roberts (Art Inst.)
This exhibit displayed several of the about 25-30 long recognized Edward Hopper works inspired by Gloucester. The bulk of Gloucester's impact remained unrecognized.
HOLLAND COTTER REVIEW OF 2007 MFA EXHIBIT for another take
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/04/arts/design/04hopp.html?pagewanted=all
NPR ALL THINGS CONSIDERED GLOUCESTER'S INSPIRATION FOR ARTIST EDWARD HOPPER REVIEW MFA 2007 EXHIBIT
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12359155
GLOUCESTER DAILY TIMES ARTICLE ON MFA 2007 exhibit
http://Gloucester Daily Times press for MFA 2007 exhibit
SPAIN MAJOR SURVEY 2012 | MUSEO THYSSEN-BORNEMISZA
(I traveled to see this exhibition. More to be added here)
EDWARD HOPPER HOUSE MUSEUM | NYACK
http://www.edwardhopperhouse.org/exhibitions.html
HOPPER HAPPENS LIVE ART CELEBRATIONS
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hopperhappens/hopper-happens-a-live-art-celebration-edward-hoppe
**New since 2012!!**
(several updates to add here)
FONDATION BEYELER MUSEUM, SWITZERLAND EDWARD HOPPER: A FRESH LOOK AT LANDSCAPE. 2020
see https://www.fondationbeyeler.ch/en/exhibitions/past-exhibitions/edward-hopper
PDF for exhibition https://www.fondationbeyeler.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/Ausstellungen/Ausstellungen_2020/Hopper/EN_Saalheft_HOPPER.pdf
Sadly Gloucester is not mentioned despite inspiring the exhibition. "The idea for this exhibition arose when Cape Ann Granite, a landscape painted by Edward Hopper in 1928, joined the collection of the Fondation Beyeler as a permanent loan." The exhibition looks beautiful. You can read more about the Edward Hopper painting Cape Ann Granite above (see #79) or continue reading the December 2017 article I wrote. This omission is one of many examples as to why it's important to state Gloucester and the tremendous quantity of Gloucester works Hopper produced.
Organized by Fondation Beyeler in cooperation with the Whitney and featuring a Fondation Beyeler major immersive 3D commission.
WIM WENDERS COMMISSION
"As a special highlight, filmmaker Wim Wenders has produced a 3D short film entitled Two or Three Things I Know about Edward Hopper, screened in a dedicated room. The film is Wenders’ personal tribute to Edward Hopper, who made a lasting impression on him and influenced his cinematic work. He travelled across the USA on a quest for “Hopper’s spirit”, condensing the resulting footage into a film that will premiere at the exhibition’s opening. In a poetic and moving way, the film shows just how indebted cinema is to Edward Hopper as well as the extent to which Hopper was in turn influenced by movies." trailer here: https://youtu.be/wxRT_eXGYvg?
**PROVINCETOWN ART ASSOCIATION**
**New since 2012!!**
New as of 2017
Acquisition/Retrospective I traveled to see. More to be added here soon.
Josephine Nivison journals | and transcripts (during Levin's time) part 1 to 4
MINNEAPOLIS ART INSTITUTE, 2014
Gloucester drawing featured in travel show. Continue reading here.
BOWDOIN | HOPPER'S MAINE LOCATIONS
http://www.bowdoin.edu/art-museum/exhibitions/hoppers-maine/maine-locations.html
GLOUCESTER
HARBORWALK.ORG, 2012
(trail markers and online resource)
http://www.ghwalk.org
Architect: Cambridge 7 (C7A) Under Direction of Sarah Garcia. Mayor Carolyn Kirk. Curator- Catherine Ryan. Trail marker content- Catherine Ryan, Lise Breen, David Rhinelander. Original online content: Catherine Ryan, Lise Breen. The Hopper marker included a link to this Edward Hopper Gloucester resource and Google map. (*update 2023: Some original content remains in a new online version, uncredited. Also some new intros --adjective overuse "breathtaking" and "captivating" suggest AI writing--introduce errors & undo factual information. Good news is that the site is up and running and errors can be corrected. The most important "To Do" action item: reinsert the credits which were stripped so that the many individuals, organizations, and institutions that shared content and/or illustrations--and releases obtained with the understanding that the credit would be included--are credited.)
CAPE ANN MUSEUM OF ART
http://www.capeannmuseum.org/
ROCKY NECK ART TRAIL
http://www.gloucesterma.com/Guides/RockyNeck_Art_Trail.pdf
SEOUL KOREA | MAJOR SURVEY 2023
Seoul Museum of Art | SeMA. Edward Hopper from City to Coast
Typo or mistaken on the exhibition page, "Gloucester, Maine". (Homer and Hopper were inspired by both regions.)
"Ever since it was announced early this year that American realist painter Edward Hopper’s exhibition was going to open in Seoul, there has been a huge interest in the show, prompting more than 100,000 early bird tickets to be sold before the opening last week..." by Park Yuna The Korea Herald
Notes about this catalogue:
There are more than 115* sites and counting in Gloucester, MA., that inspired American artist Edward Hopper. The map is the first created Google Map of Hopper places.
Most of the Gloucester works of art were painted outdoor on location (en plein air) and encircle the perimeter of, and points within, this historic fishing port. Scroll down for an online exhibit of each Gloucester address, with Edward Hopper image (THEN) and contemporary snapshot (NOW).
Numbers 1-107 show Gloucester places. Numbers 108 on include images of other Cape Ann and North Shore towns such as Salem, Essex, and Topsfield that were completed during Gloucester visits, additional Gloucester scenes, and composites.
The sites of twenty five to thirty Gloucester Hopper images were known. I have researched and identified the bulk of the remainder. I've been researching Edward Hopper since the 1980s when I first curated American print exhibitions. A list of Hopper Gloucester titles and helpful links appears at the end. It is possible that Hopper visited before 1912 and definitely after on more occasions than the extended stays we know of well documented in correspondence and published monographs. For a self guided tour (walking, biking, driving), see the map I created in Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/DhoQ.
Update 2015: Based in part on my digital map and research, Gail Levin's work, Carol Troyen's, and the museum's own, in 2014 the Cape Ann Museum published Hopper Houses, a handy brochure promoting a self-guided walking tour in proximity to the museum. The museum added popular guided walking tours beginning in 2015.
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Content credit: Catherine Ryan
Photos credit: Unless otherwise indicated, contemporary photos are mine. Right click "save as" will note copyright and variations such as: © C. Ryan, cryanaid, Catherine Ryan, Edward Hopper all around Gloucester, CR. In some instances, the vista documented ca.2009-12 was altered or razed. I continued to document the changes.
COMPILED FOR EDUCATIONAL AND WAYFINDING USE ONLY Images all rights reserved; contact the institutions directly regarding copyright/permissions. All content, collages, and contemporary "NOW" photographs unless otherwise indicated ©Catherine Ryan, 2010.
FUTURE BOOK PUBLISHING: Publishing proposal sought 2012 from Rizzoli and deemed not enough interest in Gloucester. Hopeful this vision comes to pass.
"Updates" indicate information added after 2012 and are differentiated and dated. I have held back some research for a future book deal.
Thank you for visiting!