The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald -- 19 July 1998
by Gail Levin
Edward Hopper is one of the most well-known American artists of the 20th century. His Nighthawks has been much reproduced and embroidered upon. In this detailed biography, Gail Levin gives us some of the secrets behind the man. It is an engrossing and somewhat disturbing story. As Levin's primary source is the diary of Hopper's wife, Jo, we get a vision of the man filtered through the personality of his wife. Jo Hopper was, herself, an artist, but one deeply frustrated by the male-dominated art world, and by Edward's discouragement. As a result, the author gives us Jo as a heroine in a tragic story. The heavy dependence on Jo's diaries, however, makes this almost more a biography of Jo Hopper than of Edward. Little of Edward's sparse writings are sourced here. And precious few of the opinions of other men and women who came into contact with the Hoppers. Jo appears to be deeply abused by Edward's self-loathing character, but she demonstrates some co-dependent personality traits as well. Though Edward went to absurd lengths to keep Jo from obtaining a drivers license, Jo yet controlled Edward's public image, editing his letters and demanding that she be his only model. Levin presents Jo's view with little analysis. Edward's art is also seen through Jo's eyes, as Levin quotes Jo's record of Edward's paintings, but rarely quotes Edward's own extensive records. The book occasionally reads like a catalog of events in the lives of its protagonists. Still, much is revealed about their spartan lives on Washington Square for fifty-two years, and for their many years in Cape Cod; their battles against abstract art, the struggle for success that came only after Hopper's 40th year, Jo's struggle for recognition, and Edward's constant struggle to find material for his now-archetypal paintings.