EDWARD HOPPER - LIGHT MASTER

     He trained under Robert Henri, 1900-06, and between 1906 and 1910 made three trips to Europe, though these had little influence on his style. Hopper exhibited at the Armoury Show in 1913, but from then until 1923 he abandoned painting, earning his living by commercial illustration. Thereafter, however, he gained widespread recognition as a central exponent of American Scene painting, expressing the loneliness, vacuity, and stagnation of town life. Yet Hopper remained always an individualist: `I don't think I ever tried to paint the American scene; I'm trying to paint myself.' 
     Hopper's composition and ability to paint the real world as he saw it thru the lens of of a human eye made him a master. The cheating of  trying to be a photo was all the rage! But those who tried to imitate the camera lost literally all of  what the human hand could do.His use of reflected light was a gift from the gods.  In most art colleges the use of black paint to make shadows is a basic mistake, I guess we need more teachers like ROBERT HENRI!  So when the shadows so rich with color come to a museum near you, stand there and take it all In. Hopper seemed to paint of the places in our souls living lives of quiet desperation.  Even so much as he said the paintings were about himself, I think they are the QUIET STORM in everyone!