Edward Hopper

1882 - 1967

Edward Hopper is known to have spent summers painting in Gloucester on five separate occasions: 1912, 1923, 1924, 1926 and 1928. His earliest visit in 1912, made in the company of fellow artist Leon Kroll, resulted in a series of oil paintings noted for their solid forms and rather dark palette. During his second visit to Cape Ann in 1923, Hopper courted the artist Josephine Nivison. He also began (at Nivison's urging) working in watercolor, capturing the local landscape and architecture in loosely rendered, light filled paintings. In 1924, Hopper and Nivison, who were newly married, returned to Gloucester on an extended honeymoon and continued to explore the area by foot and by streetcar. During his final two visits to the area, in 1926 and 1928, Hopper produced some of his finest paintings including Anderson's House, a watercolor of a stately yellow Italianate house just up Western Avenue from Stacy Boulevard, and Freight Cars, Gloucester, an oil showing railroad cars with the steeple of St. Ann's Church in the background.