FAME BY ASSOCIATION

MARRYING INTO THE HOPPER FAMILY

Who is Edward Hopper?

Who is Carol Hopper?

Carol (that's me) married into the famous Hopper family.  I didn't even have to bribe anyone for entrance.  They needed me, because I am an artist.

How are Edward and Carol linked?

Willem Hopper is our genealogy link. This great man was born in the Netherlands in 1596 and died in 1626.  It is really difficult for me to comprehend how long ago that was.  That was prior to the Pilgrims, prior to New York even being called New Amsterdam when it was a Dutch Trading Post.  Willem was born 208 years before Lewis and Clark departed on the first expedition to explore the western portion of the United States!  Willem came before many explorers came to the United States and unfortunately I don't know when he arrived nor why.  I can only guess that he probably signed on to an expedition to the "new country" as a teenager as Holland was a major explorer of the New World, hoping to gain new land.  It is possible Willem died in the New York area but I don't know that either.
Willem was the First Generation of Hoppers.

Fast forward past the second generation to the Third generation and Hendrick Hopper was born January 9 of 1655 or 1656 in Hackensack, Bergen, New Jersey.  Hendrick is the great, great, great, great grandfather of artist, Edward Garrett Hopper, Ninth Generation of Hoppers.  

Edward Hopper  is one of the best known painters of the 20th century American genre and landscape.  He was born in Nyack, New York on July 22, 1922 one of two children.  His family was solidly middle class; his father, Garrett Henry Hopper owned a dry goods store where young Edward sometimes worked after school.
Perhaps you already know Edward was especially known for his paintings of interiors with isolated figures, for rural landscapes and marine scenes.  During much of his career, he lived half of the year in Greenwich Village, New York in a row house facing Washington Square and the other half of the year near Truo, MA on water with a view toward Provincetown.

New York Movie by Edward Hopper

Automat by Edward Hopper

Nighthawks by Edward Hopper

I married into the 12th generation of Hoppers.

Our great, great, great....you count the number of greats...grandfather is indeed one and the same

Willem Hopper.  My husband's grandfather James Calhoun Hopper had a general store, just as Edward's father had a dry goods store.

EDWARD AND I ARE ALSO LINKED THROUGH ART.

Edward first came to Maine in 1914.  Around 1914 Monhegan Island began to firmly establish itself as an Artist Colony.  Beginning in 1916 Edward Hopper painted Monhegan Island, Maine for four consecutive summers, concentrating primarily on distinctive rock formations such as Blackhead and Gull Rock.

Blackhead by Edward Hopper

Gull Rock by Edward Hopper

I too love Maine and this summer painted Monhegan Island.

Andrew Wyeth House, Monhegan by Carol Hopper

Edward and I both love the work of Andrew Wyeth.  Andrew Wyeth and Edward were contemporaries and were fond of one another's work.

 Andrew Wyeth spent summers in Maine for most of his life.

Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth
Christina Olson had a disability and is painted crawling home from the Olson family cemetery.

My pen and ink sketch of the Olson House

Well, I guess there are many dissimilarities as well
 I am nowhere near the painter Edward was and I am not famous, not even a little.  Edward made his living as a painter.  I only WISH I made a living as a painter.  Edward lived near the water.  I live near cactus and sage.  Edward was formally trained as artist. I have informally studied with many wonderful artists.

But for sure we both have traveled to 
Europe
 a number of times to paint.

I live with Edward Hopper every day because I chose to paint a legal copy, not for sale of
 "Portland Head Light"
by Carol Hopper after Edward Hopper