Modern Life: Edward Hopper and His Time

by Ortrud Westheider (Editor), Michael Philipp (Editor)

One of the foremost chroniclers of pre–World War II American urbanism, painter and printmaker Edward Hopper depicted hauntingly isolated figures in diners, railroad cars, and rented rooms at the beginning of the twentieth century. A lifelong New Yorker, Hopper took the loneliness of big city life as one of his most persistent themes, and his often dark and remarkably realistic works have come to symbolize the melancholy of modern life.

 

This new and sumptuously illustrated volume reproduces six of Hopper’s major works, together with selections from more than thirty other well-known artists of the time, including Man Ray, German-American expressionist Lyonel Feininger, photographer and precisionist painter Charles Sheeler, and Georgia O’Keeffe. Together, these works—all owned by New York’s Whitney Museum of American Art—illustrate the rapid development of cities, a central theme in American art prior to World War II.

 

Powerful and sometimes nostalgic, the works of Hopper and his contemporaries portray an earlier “modern” America—yet one whose sense of isolation, estrangement, and vulnerability resonates equally well with today’s increasingly fast-paced society. Modern Life is a beautiful and informative book and a fine introduction to this important group of twentieth-century artists.

240 pages, Hardcover

First published August 25, 2009

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

To fully absorb the essays, commentary and artworks in this book, I spent 3 months with it. So I came away feeling more like I had a semester class than a casual read. If so, it would probably be listed in a course catalog as something like: Art History 213 - Modern American Painters from 1910 to 1950.

The images and the detail close ups are great. The essays and commentary sometimes seem out of logical order and repetitive. That being said, I learned more about some of the artists I already loved (Hopper, O'Keeffe, Sheeler) and discovered a new artist that I may grow to love (Feininger).
In addition I got a schooled more in the history of the Whitney Museum of American Art and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. As that is one of my favorite museums, the essay on this topic was a bit of a treat.

Overall, well worth the deep dive, even if at times I questioned whether I would finish the book or not. Fortunately, a long holiday weekend in quarantine resulted in enough free time to get through it - which was fortuitous since the short, but enjoyable, section on photography emerging as an art form was near the end .

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are too many essays and forwards at the start of the book. It shouldn’t take 74 pages to get to the catalogue and the catalogue itself is uneven. The exhibit was far better.