New York Times Notable Book
Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist
Wall Street Journal—One of Five Best Artist Biographies
Edward Hopper's canvasses are filled with stripped-down spaces and unrelenting light, evocative landscapes, and the lonely aspects of men and women seemingly isolated in their surroundings. What kind of man had this haunting vision, and what kind of life engendered this art? No one is better qualified to answer these questions than art historian Gail Levin, author and curator of the major studies and exhibitions of Hopper's work. In this intimate biography she reveals the true nature and personality of the man himself—and of the woman who shared his life, the artist Josephine Nivison.
Gail Levin is a biographer, art historian, and curator of landmark exhibitions. She is Distinguished Professor of Art History, American Studies, and Women's Studies at the City University of New York. She is the author of many books on Edward Hopper and on other aspects of twentieth-century American art.
New York Times Notable Book
Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist
Wall Street Journal—One of Five Best Artist Biographies
"A nearly flawless account of a remarkable artist…. It is a compelling and accessible narrative for anyone even remotely interested in modern American art."—Michael Kammen, New York Times Book Review
"Gail Levin has given us, with obvious erudition and admiration, Hopper the 'creative artist' and Hopper the reclusive, cranky, brilliantly thoughtful, impossibly egoistic, highly industrious man…. In this engaging instructive biography, we meet him and his wife Jo, learn of their emotionally intense time together, follow their careers, and, no small feat on the part of their biographer, are left with respect for those two, respect for what they separately and jointly accomplished—a tribute to them and the one who hands them over to us."—Robert Coles, Washington Post Book World
"This biography is a masterpiece of its genre, magnificently well researched, scrupulous, exact, balanced, objective and providing cumulatively a real sense of daily life with Hopper and his wife, in the context of social, political, and artistic events of their time."—Bryan Robertson, Modern Painters
“Few [late paintings] have the power of Hopper's Two Comedians (1966). The tremendous virtue of Gail Levin's 'intimate biography' is that it prepares us to feel that power."—Arthur Danto, The Nation
"A definitive biography."—Robert Hughes, Time
704 pp.6.14 x 9.21Illus: 98 b/w photographs
9780520393387$29.95|£25.00Paper
Jan 2023