Hopper's Places

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful achievement, valuable tool for painters!
Review: I loved this book! If the most important trait to have as an artist is to "see" like an artist, then this gives you insight into what one of America's greatest saw.

Anybody who has picked up my copy of the book has been fascinated, even if they aren't painters themselves. The only reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5, was the analysis of some of Hopper's subjects. It seemed, after reading what the author wrote about the paintings, that she spent too much time in academia and not enough time painting. She attributes more complex motives to some of Hopper's compositions than he intended, I think. For instance, I suspect that the only reason he painted the dead tree in front of Libby House was that he found it artistically interesting. I don't think he was trying to show "past decay" against the present, but who knows?

In the end, I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves Hopper or the realist style.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: If you are a fan of Hopper's art, and/or if you like to paint yourself, you will love this book. Hopper's ability to take the ordinary and turn it into an exceptional painting is amazing, and this book shows you exactly (well, almost) what he saw when he painted his scenes. Gail Levin went through a lot of hard work to track down these places, and seeing them side by side with Hopper's paintings makes it well worth her effort. It's my favorite art book, turned to time and time again.