The American simplicity of Edward Hopper

Edward Hopper was a towering figure of 20th century art in America. A realist, he captured humble and mundane settings with a deep emotional reserve. A new show at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts dedicated to Hopper's work from 1925 to 1950 includes 100 paintings, watercolors and prints. Morley Safer reports. (Originally aired June 10, 2007.)

[@matsalvatore9074]

I always loved hoppers rooftop paintings. Gives me so much melancholy

[@danielhowe7362]

What's incredible for me is the fact here you have an American living in one of the busiest areas on Earth and yet he imbues wonderfully a sense of Stillness that is rapturous! For me his Stillness and appreciation of Human Fear, Fear of communicating with other Humans, mark him out as one of the most important Artists not just of the USA but the World!

[@robertbutts9835]

His art is such simple works of simple images ..

[@Jazzbo88]

Very nice appreciation of a great artist, and another testament to the warm and humane talent of the late Morley Safer.

[@jgc1077]

"Talent' is a bit much, but yeah, safer was a pleasant personality and a good interviewer.

[@IntriguedLioness]

Although I'm sure I saw a few Edward Hopper paintings or reproductions in New York as a child, my real introduction and time spent studying his technique was when I went to school at Northwestern University and would go to the Art Institute of Chicago regularly. I was drawn in to Nighthawks like most who saw it. Would love to see the show!

[@matsalvatore9074]

Both speakers were great. I really like this lady.

[@mickmcknight162]

If I could go back in time and there was a painter whom I could ask to paint the Santa Fe Express going from a beautiful colorful countryside into a beautiful town on a beautiful day it would be him. I just like the way he paints, and the mystery that adds to them is a bonus also! Great painter and artist.

[@chocloditelensman]

They always miss the most important thing - other than light theory … is how the highlights reduce mass into simple shapes with the absence of shadows. It like he squinted his eyes at the landscapes and painted with only highlights and shadows and cut out the mid tones. I look at Hopper as reducing the subject to it’s lowest common denominator.

[@IntriguedLioness]

I use such a technique in my amateur photography. Yes we can capture every single texture and line, but Edward Hopper new how to capture the stillness of one moment of radiant sun and shadow. Would love to see the show but I'm way over on the west coast now..

[@michaelpytel3280]

Light. Shadow. Solitude. 'Nuff said.

[@Goomba_N64]

I've really been getting into his style lately I've been painting and practicing I hope one day I could achieve what Edward Hopper did.

[@lazyscorsese6653]

Haha, join the queue!

[@JayBenedictBrown]

“Sun in an Empty Room” is a minimalist abstract painting...disguised as home interior. I wonder if this was to poke fun at Minimalism or as an unintended bit of admiration for it.

[@800oceandrive5]

I miss Morley

[@emrahkorkmaz87]

A great interpreter of painting.

[@Michaela1942]

The Big Sleep was definitely NOT made in 1939, dear lady. Lauren Bacall, who starred in it, would have been just 15 years old in 1939. The Big Sleep was released in 1946.

[@barbaramortkowitz]

The American Vermeer

[@Largeagegaplove]

Edward Hopper, Grant Wood, and Andrew Wyeth are some of my favorites. Abstract garbage not for me...

[@michaelwertzy9808]

What moves you, moves you! Docents do their thing, sometimes pretty well, as long as the artist is present, which usually never. When at a gallery or museum exhibit opening I take advantage of the hors d'oeuvres and wine, and go back within a week and be alone with nobody telling another of "what's that supposed to mean"?

[@harleylawdude]

Little known is Hopper’s Mohegan series, which is more of impressionistic.

[@blatherskite3009]

So, how exactly does "American simplicity" differ from anyone else's simplicity?

[@rebeccabrough8634]

Hopper's subjects include things like automats, gas stations. late night coffee cafes with midcentury lines, and American landscapes and light. They also seem to include a great deal of space without objects of any kind. Those things could be found in a defense of the Turner thesis.

[@timothyhill1149]

does anyone know what he ate?

[@CarianneRHixson]

lol why? So you can copy it and paint as good as him?

[@joana.joana.j]

@@CarianneRHixson yes

[@jamesmurray3128]

He gorged himself on peanut butter.

[@mickmcknight162]

Chop Souey. He has a painting called it anyway ...lol

[@williamkelly8026]

Morley's voice is totally burned out from decades and decades of heavy cigarette smoking. His throat is coated with thick mucous

[@ermirzaerekose3824]

how u become a curator ... i wonder 😂 ... hopper had relationship issue with his dear wife ... his works shout that out ... loneliness ... coldness ... solitariness

[@reverendsaltine6852]

MORLEY SAFER, or whatever his fkng name is, is just an actor, and knows ZILCH about Edward Hopper, painting, or anything else. Also, I can't stand the sun logo in the right hand corner. I quit at 1:09