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EDWARD HOPPER
Night Shadows
.
Etching, 1921. 175x210 mm; 7x8
1
/
4
inches,
full margins. Edition of approximately 500.
Signed in pencil, lower right. Published by
The New Republic,NewYork.A brilliant,
luminous, richly-inked impression of this
important etching,with very strong contrasts
and no sign of wear.
Based in NewYork, Hopper (1882-1967)
studied at the Institute of Art and Design
and was instructed by prominent artists
such asWilliam Merrit Chase and Robert
Henri, a progenitor of the Ashcan School
of American Art. Though he traveled to
Europe several times in the early 1900s
when avant-garde movements like Cubism
and Surrealism were receiving much
attention, he was not greatly swayed by their
influence and instead was attracted to the
iconic works and dark palette of Rembrandt
and other Old Masters. Hopper’s work is
characterized by a sense of silence and
subtlety; he rarely depicted scenes of chaos
or camaraderie.
He began making etchings and drypoints in
1915 with the help of fellow artist Martin
Lewis, and he produced 70 prints before he
ceased etching in 1928 to focus solely on
painting.
Night Shadows
is a particularly
iconic image, epitomizing Hopper’s
propensity for conveying isolation and
stillness through the use of heavy
chiaroscuro and strong, dark hatching
throughout. He used a bird’s-eye vantage
point with extended shadows and darkness
to intensify the suspense and drama.
The artist depicted this same street corner
in a painting from 1913,
Corner Saloon
,
now in The MoMA, New York. Unlike
Hopper’s other prints, which he printed
himself on his personal press in very small
editions, this is the only etching that was
printed commercially, for The New
Republic, NewYork, and published in a
limited edition portfolio for their
December 1924 issue. Levin 82.
[25,000/35,000]