Edward Hooper

Edward Hooper (1882-1967)

I finally finished reading Edward Hooper. I have to say the language in this book is quite a challenge for me to fully understand even if I used dictionary a lot of times. I think each field has some particular words. For example medical language or law language are both having a lot of particular vocabularies. Now in art, it must contain art language.

By reading this book, it does improve my knowledge about art. I think I understand a little bit about Edward Hooper’s work which I knew nothing about before. And most of all, I like his work.

Some quoting by Edward Hooper in this book I really like:

“Great art is the outward expression of an inner life in the artist, and this inner life will result in his personal vision of the world.

The inner life of a human being is a vast and varied realm.”

 “My aim in painting has always been the most exact transcription possible of my most intimate impressions of nature…I have tried to present my sensations in what is the most congenial and impressive form possible to me. “

I think as great artists, they are not only artists, but also philosophers, thinkers. It is not their hands or mind makes the art, it is their spirit, something deep in their heart makes the work. They are talking and expressing themselves by using another form of language. This language is silent but powerful, simple but beautiful.  Only thing I think in this world, only a small group of people understand this language while the majorities could not understand and be connected. The great artists, they are far beyond their period.

He also said “If you could say it in words, there’d be no reason to paint. “ A simple sentence, tell us exactly why art exist. There is something, in any culture, in any language you can’t express by using words. No words can describe it, you can only feel it. And I believe it must be a wonderful thing once you can feel it. To feel the beauty and purity which somebody using their life time to tell you.  I am getting a bit anxious now. I didn't understand anything about art before and it didn't border me. But now I think I push the door open, I see light but no more. I know I need to be patient.

Come back to Edward Hooper’s work. I used quite a lot of time to read this book, I wrote down something which I interested and can also understand.

First of all is his subject matter which are people, place and architecture. When I first saw his work in the book, I did feel the still, I noticed the light, bright and cheerful. But I wondered why his figures are all not happy, even feels lonely, every one of them. I understand better now. Here are some explanations from the book.

“Most of Hooper’s characters are so immersed in thought that they seem completely unaware of their surroundings. They are posed in dramatic scenes of distraction, absorbed in private thought and sober musing, where Hoppe’s graphic drama creates a thrall of spectatorship that makes potent the compelling mystery of their mental state.”

“Hooper’s major painting do not refer to specific places, but are ‘types’ of places-the projections of his imagination, his ‘interior vision’ . Like his contemporaries, he was committed to finding a way to picture modern life that could best express the contemporary issues in which he was interested. He was intent on achieving his ambition, expressed so succinctly by Geothe, to reproduce ‘the world that surrounds me by means of the world that is in me.’”

It is a bit scary to find that Hooper has a kind of depression which called Melancholic.  After reading the book, I do agree that his characters maybe feel tense, but it is not depression.  In such a world, sometimes, you do need that little moment, forget the surroundings and find yourself.  

There is also something about death. I feel shivered even when I write down this word. It said in the book that “Many commentators have noted that the theme of death in Hopper’s work is connected to the empty space or void. Two Comedians, the long awaited performance finally materialises. Edward Hooper and his wife Jo take their last bows beside artificial foliage and darkness.”  After reading this, look back his work, the empty room even with cheerful sunshine make me feel sad and cold. The Two Comedians makes me feel want to cry, last performance, last bow, last applause, curtain down, what mood was he in when he was facing death?