Hopper (Writers on Art Series)

Hopper (Writers on Art Series) by Mark Strand. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780880013437.

Edward Hoppers paintings are icons of American culture. His representations of gas stations, storefronts, cafeterias and hotel rooms embody the solitude of travel and adult life in the America of the thirties, forties and fifties. Because of the familiarity of his subject matter, Hopper has been pigeon-holed both historically, as an American realist, and thematically, as an artist of alienation. Mark Strand, recent poet laureate and writer of many books of award-winning poetry, approaches Hoppers work with a fresh eye, exploring the aesthetic principles behind the paintings. Strand, whose poems move through a terrain similar to that portrayed by Hopper, possesses a unique and powerful understanding of what makes the paintings so moving and memorable. He writes with his distinctive clarity and grace, examining twenty-three of Hoppers most important works. He cites aesthetic reasons for Hoppers continuing ability to deeply move people in an America that has grown considerably more complex both politically and socially since mid-century.