One of the most enduringly popular painters of the twentieth century, Edward Hopper produced many works now considered icons of Modern art. Canvases such as Drugstore, New York Movie, and the universally recognized (and often parodied) Nighthawks not only reshaped what painting looked like in America, but created a visual language for middle-class life and its discontents. This extensive new assessment of Hopper, which accompanies a major traveling exhibition, examines the dynamics of the artist's creative process and discusses his work within the cultural currents of his day--examining the influence not only of other painters, but also of such media as literature and film. And while most studies have tended to see Hopper as the great painter of alienation, this one takes a much broader, more nuanced, and ultimately more representative view.

Directors' Foreword

Acknowledgments

"A Stranger Worth Talking to": Profiles and Portraits of Edward Hopper

 Carol Troyen

Hopper's Foundation

 Elliot Bostwick Davis

Hopper in Gloucester

 Carol Troyen

Painting Sunlight on the Coast of Maine

 Janet L. Comey

"The Sacredness of Everyday Fact": Hopper's Pictures of the City

 Carol Troyen

Painting the Modern Cape: Hopper in Truro

 Ellen E. Roberts

Hopper's Women

 Carol Troyen

Nighthawks: Transcending Reality

 Judith A. Barter

Travels and Travails: Hopper's Late Pictures

 Judith A. Barter

Notes

Chronology

Checklist and Figure Illustrations

Select Bibliography

Index