Edward Hopper: Transformation of the Real: 1882-1967 by Rolf G. Renner (1999) Paperback

Meesterlijk Modern #6

by Rolf Günter Renner

Edward Hopper (1882-1967) is considered the first significant American painter in 20th-century art. After decades of patient work, Hopper enjoyed a success and popularity that since the 1950s has continually grown. In canvas after canvas he painted the loneliness of big-city people. Many of Hopper's pictures represent views of streets and roads, rooftops, and abandoned houses, depicted in a brilliant light that strangely belies the melancholy mood of the scenes. Hopper's paintings are marked by striking juxtapositions of colour, and by the clear contours with which the figures are demarcated from their surroundings. His extremely precise focus on the theme of modern men and women in the natural and man-made environment sometimes lends his pictures a mood of eerie disquiet. On the other hand, Hopper's renderings of rocky landscapes in warm brown hues, or his depictions of the seacoast, exude an unusual tranquillity that reveals another, more optimistic side of his character.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Biography, Art History, History, Reference, Art Design

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Born in 1945, Prof. Dr. Rolf G. Renner is Professor for Modern German Literature and Director of the Frankreich-Zentrum at the University of Freiburg/Germany. He is also professeur invité at the IHEE Strasbourg/France and an Officier de l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques. His main teaching and research interests are: 20th century literature, literary and media theory.

He is the author of books on Georg Lukács (1976), Thomas Mann (1985, 1987), Peter Handke (1985), Postmodernism (1988), Edward Hopper (1990, translated into 15 languages), Proust (1992), and has published about 80 articles in academic books and journals. He is also editor of four volumes on the history of European thought (1991-92), an encyclopedia of works in literary theory (1994), an anthology of texts on contemporary literary theory (1995), and an anthology of German novels in the 20th century (2004).

Reviews

[Arupratan · Rating 4 out of 5]

যে-কোনো বড়ো শহরের একটি প্রধান বৈশিষ্ট্য হলো সেই শহরের একাকীত্ব। শহরের একাকীত্ব মানে সেই শহরের মানুষের একাকীত্ব। যে শহরে যত বেশি মানুষ, সেই শহর তত বেশি একলা। সেইসব গণনাতীত মানুষের পরিত্যাগ করা কার্বন ডাইঅক্সাইডে ভরে ওঠে শহরের ছালওঠা ময়দান, ত্বকচর্চাহীন পিচের রাস্তা, প্লাস্টিক আলো আর আসবাবের কিউবিজমে ডুবে থাকা শহরের কাফে রেস্টুরেন্ট শুঁড়িখানা সিনেমাঘর, এবং চৌকো আয়ত ত্রিকোণ গোল লম্বা বেঁটে হাজার হাজার হাজার হাজার হাজার হাজার বাসাবাড়ি। মানুষের ফেলে দেওয়া দীর্ঘনিঃশ্বাস উড়ে আসে মানুষেরই ঘরের ভিতরে।

বড়ো শহরের এই চরিত্র আমি প্রথম চিনতে পেরেছিলাম কলেজজীবনে হোস্টেলে থাকার সময়। হোস্টেলও একরকম সরাইখানা বটে। পার্থক্য শুধু, সরাইখানার মতো রোজ রোজ মানুষের মুখ পাল্টে যায় না হোস্টেলে। কিন্তু সেই একইরকম চিৎকার হুজ্জতি লৌন্ডা বদনাম হুয়া লৌন্ডিয়া তেরে লিয়ে জন বন জোভি ব্রায়ান অ্যাডামস খেউড় খিস্তি আব্বে চুতিয়া বেটিচোদ হাহাহাহাহাহা হাসির দমক সিগারেটের ধোঁয়া মৃত বিয়ারের বোতল বিকল হয়ে যাওয়া বেসিনের জলে ভেসে যাচ্ছে বারোয়ারি বাথরুমের নোংরা মেঝে ঘরের দেয়ালে টাঙানো স্বামী বিবেকানন্দ এবং ভগবান তিরুপতির পরিপাটি বাঁধানো ছবির ঠিক পাশেই পোস্টারে ঝুলে আছে প্যামেলা অ্যান্ডারসনের সাহসী পশ্চাৎদেশ।

একটা বইয়ের দোকানে নিয়মিত যেতাম, সেখানেই পৃষ্ঠা উল্টে প্রথম দেখেছিলাম এডোয়ার্ড হপার-এর আঁকা ছবি (যে বইটার রিভিউ লিখছি, এটাই সেই বইটা, অনেকদিন পরে কিনেছিলাম)। মূল্যবান বইয়ের মসৃণ পৃষ্ঠাগুলো ভিজে আছে একাকীত্বের আর্দ্রতায়। বড়ো শহরের জ্যামিতিক একাকীত্ব। শিল্পী হিসেবে হপারকে "reverse-প্রথাভঙ্গকারী" বলা যেতে পারে। শিল্পীসুলভ উচ্ছৃঙ্খল ছিলেন না তিনি। বোহেমিয়ান ছিলেন না। যাঁকে বিয়ে করেছিলেন তাঁর সঙ্গেই সারাজীবন কাটিয়েছেন, একটাও গুপ্ত প্রেমিকার অস্তিত্ব নেই তাঁর জীবনে। কথাবার্তায় ছিলেন অশিল্পীসুলভ মৃদুভাষী। তাঁর জীবন নিয়ে বায়োপিক তৈরি করলে সেই সিনেমা অবধারিত ফ্লপ হবে। সমকালীন সকল শিল্পতত্ত্ব, অমুক ইজম তমুক ইজম, সবরকম প্রাসঙ্গিক ইজমকে এড়িয়ে গেছেন তিনি। কোনো বিদ্রোহ নেই, কোনো তত্ত্বের প্রচার নেই, কিংবা সমাজকে তাচ্ছিল্য কিংবা আঘাত করার প্রবণতা নেই। শিল্পী ছিলেন? নাকি শিল্পীবেশী অহিংস কেরানি ছিলেন তিনি?

তিরিশ/চল্লিশের দশকের রাজনৈতিক, অর্থনৈতিক, সামাজিক দুর্দশাগ্রস্ত বিশ্বে, পিকাসো যখন আঁকছেন "গের্নিকা", সালভাদর দালি আঁকছেন "দা পার্সিস্টেন্স অফ মেমোরি", পল ক্লি আঁকছেন "অ্যাড পারনাসাম", মার্ক শাগাল আঁকছেন "দা চেলিস্ট ", ফ্রিদা কাহলো আঁকছেন জাদুবাস্তবিক আত্মপ্রতিকৃতি, সেই সময় এডোয়ার্ড হপার তেলরঙের বাটিতে প্রশান্ত তুলি ডুবিয়ে নিশ্চুপে ফুটিয়ে তুলছেন একাকীত্বের বাস্তবসম্মত চিত্রভাষ্য। তাঁর ছবির ভাষায়, রঙে, রেখায়, সমসাময়িক শৈল্পিক ভাঙাগড়া, উন্মত্ততার ছিঁটেফোঁটা নেই। (বোধহয় সেই কারণেই ই. এইচ. গমব্রিচের বিখ্যাত The Story of Art বইতে একবারের জন্যেও হপারের নামের উল্লেখ নেই!) আমেরিকার দৈনন্দিন জীবনের টুকরো টুকরো মুহূর্তকে, প্রতিবিম্বের মতো, নির্বিকার রিয়ালিস্ট ভঙ্গিমায় এঁকেছেন একটার পর একটা। দ্বিতীয় বিশ্বযুদ্ধপূর্ব (এবং তার পরেরও) আমেরিকান জীবনের একাকীত্বের সেই শুকনো ফুলের গন্ধ আমি আজকে ২০২৩ সালের জানুয়ারির দু-তারিখ সোমবার সকালবেলাতেও পাচ্ছি।

তাঁর ছবির মেলানকলিক চরিত্ররা কেউ গাড়িতে গ্যাস ভরছে ফাঁকা গ্যাসস্টেশনে, কেউ একলা বসে আছে মোটেলের বিছানায়, অফিসে একা বসে কাজ করছে, সেলাই করছে একা, থিয়েটার দেখছে একা, রেস্টুরেন্টে কফি খাচ্ছে একা, বই পড়ছে একা। এমনকি চরিত্র যখন একাধিক, তখনও তারা চুপচাপ। নিজেদের মধ্যে একা। হপারের এই অদ্ভুত একলা বিশ্বে ছবির দর্শক হিসেবে আমরা বিশ্লেষণ করতে পারি নিজেদের একলা আত্মাকে। তাঁর ছবিকে নিখুঁত আয়না হিসেবে ব্যবহার করতে পারি। আমার খুব প্রিয় একটা ছোটোগল্পের সংকলন, The Oxford Book of American Short Stories, যেটি সম্পাদনা করেছেন আরেকজন বিখ্যাত গল্পলেখক জয়েস ক্যারল ওটস, সেই বইটা যখন কিনলাম, দেখলাম প্রচ্ছদে ব্যবহার করা হয়েছে হপারেরই আঁকা একটা ছবি। হঠাৎ অনুভব করলাম, এডোয়ার্ড হপার তাঁর প্রত্যেক ছবিতে, ছবির দৃশ্যবস্তুর পাশাপাশি, খুব সন্তর্পণে প্রবেশ করিয়ে দিয়েছেন নিশ্চুপ নিরিবিলি একেকটা গল্প। খুব মৃদু গলায় কথা বলছে তাঁর সেইসব গল্পের চরিত্ররা? কী কথা বলছে?

কে জানে!


("সামার ইভনিং", ১৯৪৭, ক্যানভাসে তেলরং)

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Posted at Shelf Inflicted

“His framing crops in ways that stimulate and frustrate attention, sometimes suggesting movement and change while fixing the subject so firmly that his best works appear like freezed frames from a lifelong movie. Hopper’s viewpoints, framing, and lighting frequently appropriate movie and theater conventions.”
― Brian O'Doherty

I was thrilled to be taking an Art History class at the same time there was an Edward Hopper exhibit at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. The museum was extremely crowded that day and I was with my classmates and instructor on a field trip that was not focused on any one artist, so it was difficult for me to truly contemplate his work. Unfortunately, the exhibit was over the same by the time I was able to make a solitary trip there.

So I was happy to find this book at the library to revisit the works I saw in Boston and discover his lesser known paintings and etchings.

I love the vivid and unsentimental portrayals of American urban and rural life, the serious and melancholy mood of his characters, and their environment.

“Maybe I am not very human. What I wanted to do was to paint sunlight on the side of a house.”
– Edward Hopper

Renner thoughtfully analyzed the artist’s style, techniques and influences. At the end is a brief biography of the artist.

I wish the book was a little larger, so I could fully appreciate Hopper’s magnificent works, but I also liked the smaller size that made it easy to carry around and snatch reading time throughout the day.

[Luís · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hopper was initially trained as an illustrator, but between 1901 and 1906, he studied painting under Robert Henri, a member of a group of painters called the Ashcan School. Hopper traveled to Europe three times between 1906 and 1910. Still, he remained untouched by the experimental work that blossomed in France and continued throughout his career to follow his artistic course. Although he exhibited paintings in the Armory Show in 1913, he devoted most of his time to advertising art and illustrative etchings until 1924. He then began to do watercolors such as Model Reading (1925) and oil paintings. Like the painters of the Ashcan School, Hopper painted the commonplaces of urban life. But, unlike their loosely organized, vibrant paintings, his House by the Railroad (1925) and Room in Brooklyn (1932) still show anonymous figures and stern geometric forms within snapshot-like compositions that create an inescapable sense of loneliness. This isolation of his subjects was heightened by Hopper’s characteristic use of light to insulate persons and objects in space, whether in the harsh morning light (Early Sunday Morning, 1930) or the eerie light of an all-night coffee stand (Nighthawks, 1942).

The mid-1920s already formed Hopper’s mature style. His subsequent development showed a constant refinement of his vision. Such late paintings as Second-Story Sunlight (1960) are distinguished by highly subtle spatial relationships and an even greater mastery of light than is seen in his work of the 1920s.

Source: https://www.britannica.com/biography/...

[Oblomov · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book on the Master of the aching silence in the American dream, Edward Hopper.



Layout: 2/5
The images are beautifully crisp and vibrant, and Renner makes the excellent choice of ending the book on Hopper's final painting, of two bow taking clowns representing himself and his fellow artist, muse and wife, Josephine Hopper. Annoyingly every other image is added seemingly at random, with no care for date, theme or discussion in the text, and asking me to compare two images that are 40 pages apart with the text in the middle is frankly taking the piss. A scale 10 paper cut risk.

Content: 3/5
Hopper was one of those selfish artists who didn't have the decency to suffer a mental breakdown or act like an utter whore, and thus his life was one of quiet fame and a stable marriage with a woman who shared and encouraged his passion for painting, which won't be scintillating reading for the mawkish, misery hound art lover. To resolve this problem, Renner barely discusses Hopper's life at all, not even mentioning his birth date or childhood in the main text. He also doesn't give nearly enough detail or weight to the role Josephine played in Hopper's work. Though stating she was basically a rival and critic, Renner gives no known antecdotes or examples of this, talking far more about her body as Hopper's model.

Presuming Hopper simply spawned into the world as an adult, Renner concentrates on the paintings themselves, and I was constantly annoyed by two issues:

1. Renner's a bit horny.
Just as the pre-Raphelite's were obsessed with redheads and Dali was a worshipper of the pleasantly perky posterior, Hopper is most definitely a boob devotee, highlighting or exaggerating them with shading or needlessly tight clothes at every given opportunity (sometimes with a beautiful vulnerability or sensuality, while at other times it's just gratuitous), and even the oldest of his female characters remain wonderfully voluptuous. There is inarguably an obsession with the older female form, voyeurism and magnificently marvelous mammaries in Hopper's paintings, and yet somehow Renner seems the more creepily sweaty, crowbarring sexual interpretations into even the most innocuous pictures. His take on Chop Suey (1929) was an uncomfortable example for me:

Apparently the Chop Suey sign is positioned in such a way it seems to spell SEX (does it?), and it's red, which also immediately means SEX. The profile face of the woman in the background, who has bright red lips (are they?) matches the colour of the sign, all of which indicates a deep SEXual expression and I really don't see any of this. It feels like a forced Freudian moment for me, and pointless when there's enough overt or underlying sexual tension in other paintings for Renner to spend energy and pages on.

The second issue with the essay isn't entirely his fault:

2. Hopper is a shallow artist
I in no way mean that Hopper is flimsy or overrated, but he picked one, and precisely one, theme for all his work and perfected it to the point of exquisite beauty: melancholy. Look at any Hopper painting and you won't find joy, energy, movement, chaos, political outrage. All is ennui.

You'll find cold isolation and a sense of fulfilment lost:


Relationships with an unspoken and unbreachable divide:


Or tragic anticipation unlikely to be satisfied:


All his works showcase lonliness, ambivalence and longing with a sombre calm, but there is only so many different ways of stating that same feeling and intention in the paintings before it becomes tiresome repetition. Renner is forced to reiterate 'the windows are a framing device', 'nature encroaching on civilisation', 'voyeurism' and every word I used at the beginning of this paragraph to the point of dull annoyance. I admit Renner has a tough job trying to make the same thing fresh and interesting over and over again, but when he starts putting me off Hopper's art work rather than illuminating it, it's safe to say he's failed badly.

As a coffee table book of beautiful Hopper images, this a wonderful showcase of his works, but the essay often left me as unsatisfied and unsated as one of Hopper's lonely figures.

[Bloodorange · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've seen better Taschen books - the text is dry and does not seem to progress much; there is poor alignment of text and images, we are repeatedly sent to images placed in other parts of the book or not reproduced at all.

[Chunyang Ding · Rating 4 out of 5]

I purchased this book at the DC National Gallery of Art, more for the paintings rather than the words. Hopper has been one of my favorite artists for the colors and sense of longing he invokes, and I was curious to see a more full analysis of his paintings. On that regard, this book passed with flying colors. It makes for an excellent coffee table book, something to flip through almost meditatively.

The analysis by Dr. Renner was a bit less ideal. Although it provided great insights as to the continuity of Hopper's works throughout his years, as well as the different ways that it related to Modernism and the psychological effects of his times, the analysis seemed almost fixated on Fruedian psychology. Perhaps it is just a bit too passe or easy to comment on the usage of light, loneliness, and color, but the strong emphasis on longing, desire, and sexual tension was not especially appealing. It did give me a different view of Hopper's paintings, and as the book brings together his works from various collections from New York, New Haven, Chicago, and Iowa, it was an excellent retrospective of the major pieces of art that Hopper created.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Hopper's paintings, but the text is very limited.

[alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

after a while i skimmed through a lot of the analysis and focused more on the paintings. i love hopper's use of lighting and the atmosphere he has in a lot of his work

[Michael Bohli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aus aktuellem Anlass, nämlich der Hopper-Ausstellung in der Fondation Beyeler, diente mir dieses Buch als Einstieg in die Welt des amerikanischen Malers. Natürlich kennt man gewisse Bilder der wichtigen Person schon lange, nicht aber die gesamte Dichte und Möglichkeit des Werkes. Dieser kleine Band vom Taschen Verlag bietet reichlich Bildtafeln, wenn auch oft etwas zu klein - was dem Format des Buches geschuldet ist.

Ebenso konnte ich mit den Analysen des Essayisten nicht wirklich konform gehen, werden mir die Gemälde von Edward Hopper zu stark auf gewisse psychologische Theorien und Triebe heruntergebrochen. Sicherlich steck viel Wahres in den Schriften, die Bilder bieten aber eindeutig mehr als das Besprochene.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good collection of Hopper's paintings and as with Taschen books in general the color and quality of the prints gives a reasonable sense of the painting in a different medium. The text is not organized as well as could have been, but is loaded with plenty of analysis on Hopper's techniques and motifs.

[Ilya Muravyev · Rating 4 out of 5]

The edition itself is of high quality, though the placement of Nighthawk across the spread was less than ideal. Another recurring flaw which is quite common in most art books, is that the text hardly relates to the images on the very same pages, or even mentions something that's not pictured, which is always disappointing.

[Benton Quest · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit on the pretencious side and it could have been written in more laymans terms. This book could work for someone who already has a working knowledge of the particular aspects of art history the author is referencing to.

[Karin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best book you can find on Hopper...
Apparently everything is a phallic symbol for the writer. My favourite one was the salt cellar that represented desires lol.
I was fairly annoyed by this. I guess it represents more the writer than Hopper in a way.

[stefano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Il testo è un po' noioso, in alcune parti inutilmente ricercato. Ma d'altronde, chi se ne frega del testo se si possono guardare i quadri di Hopper?

[James Duffy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Renner writes more like a philosopher than an art historian/biographer throughout the majority of the work, but it is a great read for those interested in the aesthetics of modernism/postmodernism.

[Valeria L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Weston Skaggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

The quality and design of the book and presentation of the artwork was excellent. The commentary was enlightening at times but I felt it to be repetitive, the 2nd half of the book basically rehashing similar takes from the early portions. I don't know if this is to blamed on the writer, however, because Hopper's work was intentionally narrow in his focus.
I would like to collect more books in this series.

[Aisha · Rating 1 out of 5]

My initial thought was: this book is terribly written for beginners in art. The fact is though, this book is terribly written. It is contradictory and repetitive. The picture on the page RARELY match the text and one needs to keep flipping back AND forth, back AND forth to read the same text — EXHAUSTING. Hopper is a genius and his work deserves better than this inconclusively pretentious subpar analysis and calling it an analysis is an overstatement. All that is discussed in these pages are light and dark, real and unreal, nature and civilization, and the occasional throw in of the phrase “psychologically suggestive”. The author writes nothing important, nothing mind-blowing and let me tell you that Hopper’s work is more than mind blowing. The pictures are the only incredible thing about this book. I am so disappointed to have wasted my time because I don’t feel like I learned anything.

[Cristhian · Rating 5 out of 5]

El análisis que Rolf realiza de la obra de Hopper en ocasiones me parece molesta (no es necesario buscar referencias sexuales hasta en un salero, señor) pero fuera de esto, vi cosas que nunca antes había notado.

Este libro me lo regaló mi esposa y esto aunado a que es uno de mis dos pintores favoritos (el otro siendo José María Velasco), lo hace un libro muy especial.

La edición es hermosa (nadie hace libros de arte como Taschen) y es un gusto tenerla en nuestra biblioteca.

5/5

[Ly Casnocha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edward Hopper was acknowledged as one of the notable painters in the US history. He left impression for the unique style and manner. His works did not only portray the US society especially the urban settings, with different destinies and aspects, but also left an impression of modern solitude, yet with sentimentality. In terms of this facet, his works were able to trigger lingering feelings for the audience, and remained memorable. I had a positive memory of Hopper's works.

[Eric Aguirre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edward Hopper is kind of a surrealist, realist, metaphysical and horror painter. I can't really explain his work, his themes are alienation, industrial versus nature. He transforms the everyday into the strange and produces an unfinished narrative effect for the viewer to complete.

He makes a house look strange and eerie, just by using light. In the end his work has the quality of a dream, even though he does not use the classic tropes of a surrealist.

[Jonathan]

None

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good. Good analysis of the works through the decades. Good plates of the paintings. Nice layout and text.

[Luca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bello, anche se è scritto con una grammatica irritante.

[Demis Biscaro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Non sono un lettore assiduo di saggi di argomento artistico, ma ho acquistato questo libro perché i quadri di Hopper mi hanno sempre affascinato e volevo cercare di capirne qualcosa di piú.
Il libro nel complesso mi è parso ben fatto: dimensioni adeguate, immagini grandi, ben definite e citate in modo puntuale, con il riferimento non solo al titolo ma anche alla pagina in cui sono riportate. L'unica pecca è che le immagini a doppia pagina non si riescono a guardare bene a causa dello stacco centrale tra le due pagine adiacenti. Sarebbe stato meglio aver riportato quelle opere su una pagina con un'estensione pieghevole che si aprisse verso l'esterno del volume, in modo da poter avere uno spazio doppio rispetto alla pagina singola, ma continuo alla vista. Inoltre avrei preferito che nelle didascalie fossero indicati i titoli originali delle opere invece che le traduzioni in italiano.

Il limite maggiore del libro, però, è la parte testuale, che ho trovato piuttosto ostica. A tratti le considerazioni sono suggestive, ma il filo logico del discorso nel complesso è poco chiaro e per nulla strutturato. Spesso, rileggendo lo stesso paragrafo piú e piú volte, non sono riuscito a rintracciare la consequenzialità delle argomentazioni e a capire il senso ultimo di quanto espresso dall'autore. Pensavo che questo tipo di esposizione fosse propria dei libri d'arte e che la mancanza di comprensione fosse dovuta esclusivamente alla mia scarsa familiarità con argomenti di questo tipo. Tuttavia, mi sono dovuto ricredere quando ho cominciato a leggere Hopper, in cui al contrario la scrittura è chiara e comprensibile, pur mantenendo un ottimo livello di accuratezza e profondità.

Quindi in sintesi bene per le immagini, molto meno bene per il testo.

[Lennard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prima boek, maar ik geef het meer 4 sterren omdat ik van Edward Hoppers werk houd dan dat de teksten geweldig zijn. Het boek lijdt een beetje onder het feit dat de afbeeldingen waarover in de tekst wordt gesproken vaak op totaal andere pagina's staan, en soms helaas helemaal niet in het boek te vinden zijn.

Daarnaast vond ik de uitleg over bepaalde werken als leek soms lastig te begrijpen. Ook eens met de andere reviews die het daarom vooral een leuk koffietafelboek vinden. Echter geeft hij wat mij betreft wel goed de kern van Hoppers werken aan: de eenzaamheid, het contrast tussen de natuur en de beschaving, de psychologische laag achter zijn werken, de breuk tussen beleving en waarheid en nog wel meer.

De auteur gebruikte ook een mooie quote van Edward Degas: "Het is goed om te schilderen wat men ziet. Het is veel beter om te schilderen wat in het geheugen is blijven hangen. Het is een transformatie waarin de fantasie met het geheugen samenwerkt. Men reproduceert alleen dat wat dwingend is, dat wil zeggen: het noodzakelijke. Zo is de eigen herinnering niets anders dan de fictie die bevrijd is van de tirannie die de natuur uitoefent." Deze quote deed me ergens denken aan David Lynch, een van mijn favoriete regisseurs, die eenzelfde soort thema gebruikt in zijn film Lost Highway (1997).

[Natalia · Rating 2 out of 5]

las obras de hopper son famosas por su representación de alineación y soledad. las miradas desconectadas de sus personajes son lo que hace su trabajo interesante. renner habló de eso si acaso por un párrafo 😵‍💫 en cambio se enfocó en un análisis sumamente académico que no resuena con el público general. por esto, es el peor taschen book que he leído de momento.
sí me llamó la atención aprender sobre la relación entre la naturaleza y la civilización, así como la presencia de las ventanas y la influencia de la luz proyectada sobre los cuerpos de sus más famosas pinturas, pero lastimosamente la redacción fue taaaan pretenciosa que se me hizo imposible disfrutar este libro. lamento informar que he visto mejores reels que estudian y explican el trabajo de hopper.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first encountered one of Hopper's haunting paintings as a young man I was captured by his evocation of space, as sometimes delineated by human creations, as well as by the oddly isolated human beings frequently appearing in them, too.

I think no one that I have yet to come across has done a better job of being able to convey how lonely our cities and buildings can be; the look on the face of several of his figures says it all: we may live among others but, ultimately, we are only ourselves alone.

A lovely book that I suspect you will come back to time and again to linger with Hopper -- and his figures -- staring into time and space.

[Geoffrey Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The greatest strength of this book is the collection of paintings. The author, Rolf Renner, offers his views on the key paintings and tries to link several of them together using different themes. He is most effective when exploring the relationship between a Civilization and Nature in many of Hopper’s paintings. He is less clear when trying to place Hopper’s work in the broader course of Art History, and his comparisons to other artists needs to be developed in more detail. But how can you go wrong with an art book that features details from “Nighthawks” on its cover?

[Aabha Sharma · Rating 3 out of 5]

The text is terrible. The author assumes you to be a specialist in modern art and be familiar with Hoppers work which goes against the concept of the “basic art” series. He loves his fancy lingo and constantly refers to works not included in the book. This is exactly the kind of pretentious bullshit around art that intimidates so many people and puts them off art, rather than pulling them in!

Hoppers art is amazing and printed well. The double page spreads really do his work justice. Just wish they got someone else to do the text, because it is so dry.