Edward Hopper Exhibit in Paris Shows Artist's French Influences

 

Art fans in Paris will want to check out the Edward Hopper retrospective at the Grand Palais Museum, which the Associated Press is reporting demonstrates that the 20th century painter famed for his rendering of American life drew inspiration from France.

The show's curator, Didier Ottinger, told the Associated Press that Hopper was "a lifelong Francophile" who "clearly took influence from participating artists like Henri Matisse," even though Hopper's palette is more muted. "You can see it in his large, solid color masses," he said.

The collection includes some 128 Hopper works - such as lonely masterpieces "Gas," "Hotel Room" and "Soir Bleu" - alongside 35 comparative works from French artists who influenced him.

Among the other artists featured in the exhibit is Edgar Degas, whose work, the exhibit catalog suggests, encouraged Hopper to incorporate dramatic angles into his own paintings. This technique later became one of his artistic signatures, such as in his most famous work "Nighthawks" from 1942, which resembles a still from a film noir.