LEARN
A recent discovery made by Louis Shadwick in the October issue of The Burlington Magazine reveals that “Old Ice Pond at Nyack” and “Church and Landscape” were master copies made by Edward Hopper as a teenager learning how to paint. This is a fascinating revelation, but one that does not reduce the importance of these paintings in the conversation of Hopper’s artistic journey. As with many of Edward Hopper’s childhood objects, we suggest viewing these paintings as artifacts from the development of a young life. A young artist’s life.
The myth of artistic genius is just that, a myth. No artist develops in a bubble, without influence, resource, or access. We believe these are important elements for us to provide to young artists, scholars, and art lovers in our region and beyond, and we strive to continue to serve in such a capacity.
Young Hopper also painted birds, dogs, soldiers, and boats. He copied drawings from textbooks and novels. He went to art school and regularly advertised himself as the pupil of Chase and Henri for the lessons he taught here in his childhood home, which is now our museum. Hopper very much saw himself as a student of and in conversation with other artists. He regularly thought about and cited French painters as influences.
Such as the sketch of an eyeball drawn by Hopper in high school or the countless anatomy and zoology drawings we have in our archive, young Hopper copied freely and regularly, which is to say, he learned to see. He was one of many students to use these methods, along with practice-sheet training, to strengthen their techniques. These are practices continued in art schools today.
In Gail Levin’s seminal biography on Edward Hopper, she writes of how his mother Elizabeth habitually offered Edward and his sister Marion magazines and books with illustrations as inspiration. Edward often copied these as methods of both fandom and educational development, in particular that of Don Quixote. Edward also used drawing manuals. They were often subscription based and a common practice for young artists to learn to paint with. Levin notes how Edward regularly copied the pen-and-ink technique seen in magazines he studied, which encouraged his parents to push him towards doing such commercial illustration for a career, which he pursued, then staunchly rejected for the limitations it imposed on his imagination. Levin also describes Hopper’s later years at art school and his early career. Regularly, he copied the masterworks of Manet, Millet, and Ingres. He long admired Rembrandt and Degas.
Hopper himself did not claim originality in these early oil paintings. In fact, he said very little of his own work. In Mr. Shadwick’s article, he writes, "... that the title and date of 'Old Ice Pond at Nyack' were provided by Sanborn, who made the visual link to the skating pond in Nyack and used the painting to evoke Hopper’s boyhood in exhibitions, articles and talks. He evidently was also responsible for the original title of 'Rowboat in Rocky Cove,' which was called 'Rowboat on Hudson' when he consigned the work to Kennedy Galleries – again making a link to the Nyack scenery of Hopper’s youth.”
As Art Gunther, a local Rockland journalist, photographer, and painter, puts it, this discovery “fills in blanks and does nothing to lessen Edward Hopper's magic.” Carole Perry, former Artistic Director of the Edward Hopper House, expands on this: “He was only ever trying to put more of himself in his paintings, not look to others.”
We continue this educational technique at our museum, inviting our art students and visitors of all ages to replicate Hopper’s iconic paintings as a pathway to practicing fundamental skills for artmaking. We welcome submissions of photographers and visual artists to share Hopper-inspired works to our social media using the tag #HopperHappens. We believe it is essential to demystify the untouchable, unattainable notion of a master artist, and hope instead to inspire the belief in everyone to begin where they are, with whatever tools they have.
Written by Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center
Chief Storyteller Juliana Roth
September 30, 2020
The myth of artistic genius is just that, a myth. No artist develops in a bubble, without influence, resource, or access. We believe these are important elements for us to provide to young artists, scholars, and art lovers in our region and beyond, and we strive to continue to serve in such a capacity.
Young Hopper also painted birds, dogs, soldiers, and boats. He copied drawings from textbooks and novels. He went to art school and regularly advertised himself as the pupil of Chase and Henri for the lessons he taught here in his childhood home, which is now our museum. Hopper very much saw himself as a student of and in conversation with other artists. He regularly thought about and cited French painters as influences.
Such as the sketch of an eyeball drawn by Hopper in high school or the countless anatomy and zoology drawings we have in our archive, young Hopper copied freely and regularly, which is to say, he learned to see. He was one of many students to use these methods, along with practice-sheet training, to strengthen their techniques. These are practices continued in art schools today.
In Gail Levin’s seminal biography on Edward Hopper, she writes of how his mother Elizabeth habitually offered Edward and his sister Marion magazines and books with illustrations as inspiration. Edward often copied these as methods of both fandom and educational development, in particular that of Don Quixote. Edward also used drawing manuals. They were often subscription based and a common practice for young artists to learn to paint with. Levin notes how Edward regularly copied the pen-and-ink technique seen in magazines he studied, which encouraged his parents to push him towards doing such commercial illustration for a career, which he pursued, then staunchly rejected for the limitations it imposed on his imagination. Levin also describes Hopper’s later years at art school and his early career. Regularly, he copied the masterworks of Manet, Millet, and Ingres. He long admired Rembrandt and Degas.
Hopper himself did not claim originality in these early oil paintings. In fact, he said very little of his own work. In Mr. Shadwick’s article, he writes, "... that the title and date of 'Old Ice Pond at Nyack' were provided by Sanborn, who made the visual link to the skating pond in Nyack and used the painting to evoke Hopper’s boyhood in exhibitions, articles and talks. He evidently was also responsible for the original title of 'Rowboat in Rocky Cove,' which was called 'Rowboat on Hudson' when he consigned the work to Kennedy Galleries – again making a link to the Nyack scenery of Hopper’s youth.”
As Art Gunther, a local Rockland journalist, photographer, and painter, puts it, this discovery “fills in blanks and does nothing to lessen Edward Hopper's magic.” Carole Perry, former Artistic Director of the Edward Hopper House, expands on this: “He was only ever trying to put more of himself in his paintings, not look to others.”
We continue this educational technique at our museum, inviting our art students and visitors of all ages to replicate Hopper’s iconic paintings as a pathway to practicing fundamental skills for artmaking. We welcome submissions of photographers and visual artists to share Hopper-inspired works to our social media using the tag #HopperHappens. We believe it is essential to demystify the untouchable, unattainable notion of a master artist, and hope instead to inspire the belief in everyone to begin where they are, with whatever tools they have.
Written by Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center
Chief Storyteller Juliana Roth
September 30, 2020
