
The Unlikely Pulp Fiction Illustrations of Edward Hopper - prismatic
https://lithub.com/the-unlikely-pulp-fiction-illustrations-of-edward-hopper/
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gt_
Wonderful article! I did not expect to read this on HN today _at all_.

I expect anyone with the undying love for Hopper’s work that I have to
immediately imagine the harsh realities that produced these illustrations but
alas I am mistaken.

Hopper was not a social artist! He was an embodiement of the eye, a conduit of
visual experience. I would also argue Hopper was _not_ a storyteller! He was
more like a pornographer _of light_ than a storyteller, and this is a
beautiful thing.

[https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MLACmwsxaww/RjtOQOTDtGI/AAAAAAAAA...](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MLACmwsxaww/RjtOQOTDtGI/AAAAAAAAAUc/s_sNdmpG4PE/s400/04hopp_CA1.650.jpg)

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qubex
Edward Hopper has always been one of my favourite artists. I’m no connossieur
of art but I usually am very partial to abstract art because I am impressed by
patterns and how it managed to induce an emotion in me without actually
showing an obvious _posed story_ (I’m speaking of the _very_ abstract
Mondarian, Kandinsky, slash-on-canvas Fontana, or Rothko, not the vaguely-
screwed-up Picasso-style stuff).

Anyway, I’ve always been confused by the fact that I adore Edward Hopper above
all of those, because the light is so striking and so ‘contrasty’ and stark
and ‘photographically’ posted, and so inherently optimistic. So absolutely
non-banal, so remarkable, so memorable, so... rendered?

And now up crops this stuff which strikes me as being absolutely run-of-the-
mill almost-risible pulp.

It surprises me. It doesn’t at all detract from my amazement of those works of
his I find so absolutely affecting and moving. It makes me feel... very
protective of him, because he was pushed into doing these things in order to
survive and provide for himself.

Sorry for the very confused comment. Thanks for posting.

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jbuzbee
There's something about Hopper's paintings. I can usually immediately identify
one before I see any caption. I don't know what it is.

But these... Another side altogether. Thanks for the post!

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chris_st
I'm the same way about his paintings... I think it's genius.

I got to see a large collection of his paintings at the National Gallery in DC
a number of years ago, and... wow. In person they're astounding. Go see them
"live" if you can.

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morsch
Many issues of the magazine referred to in the article are available on the
Internet archive:
[https://archive.org/search.php?query=subject%3A%22Adventure+...](https://archive.org/search.php?query=subject%3A%22Adventure+Magazine%22&sort=date)

How cool is that.

