Friday, May 8, 2009

Hopper's Ledgers


A sketch from my favorite Hopper painting - above.

"What I wanted to do was to paint sunlight on the side of a house."
- Edward Hopper
Here's a small glimpse of Edward Hopper's sketchbook. So fascinating! He planned the colors, even sometimes the brand of paint. Sometimes he drew from newspaper photographs. He seemed to be quite a planner of his paintings... not terribly spontaneous... rather calculated.
Hopper also wrote about to whom a painting was sold, the check number, and the breakdown of the gallery percentage of the sale. (this info was usually penciled in at the end of an entry.) Sometimes he wrote who had come to see certain paintings. Fascinating to see his own personal handwriting and dealings.
From the book, Edward Hopper: A Journal of His Work. By Deborah Lyons. Whitney Museum of American Art, NY and W.W. Norton & Co. NY. 1997.
PS click on image if you want to read his entries! Fun stuff!!

6 comments:

The Clever Pup said...

Cool. Where'd you come by this? Very interesting stuff.

artslice said...

Hi there, Pup. I was just finishing my post... got interupted by life this am. I added the book info. Thanks for stopping by!

r garriott said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
r garriott said...

Thank you for sharing this fascinating excerpt. In a few pictures I've learned so much about Hopper... and it all makes sense. I'll be looking for this book!

Paula Villanova said...

all I can say is..."wow..."

Jennifer Lommers said...

I love to see the thumbnail sketches! I sometimes forget to keep the compositional sketches that small in order to focus on the darks, lights, and movement even more. Great post and pics - thanks!