Hopper Drawing: A Painter’s Process is the first major museum exhibition to focus on the drawings and creative process of Edward Hopper (1882–1967). More than anything else, Hopper’s drawings reveal the continually evolving relationship between observation and invention in the artist’s work, and his abiding interest in the spaces and motifs—the street, the movie theater, the office, the bedroom, the road—that he would return to throughout his career as an artist.

This exhibition, organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art, showcases drawings bequeathed to the museum by the artist’s widow Josephine Hopper, many of which have never before been exhibited or researched. The show surveys Hopper’s significant and underappreciated achievements as a draftsman, and will pair many of his greatest oil paintings—including Office at Night (1940), an important piece from the Walker Art Center’s collection–with their preparatory drawings and related works. The exhibition also features groundbreaking archival research into the buildings, spaces, and urban environments that inspired his work.

Exhibition Tour Schedule

• Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
  May 23–Oct 6, 2013
• Dallas Museum of Art, TX
  November 17, 2013–February 16, 2014
• Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
  March 13–June 20, 2014

Related Project

Office at Night: A Residency and Literary Collaboration

Authors Laird Hunt and Kate Bernheimer are writing a collaborative novella inspired by Edward Hopper’s Office at Night (1940) from the Walker’s collection, “taking up residence” inside the iconic painting and imagining the lives of its enigmatic characters. Released in installments on the Walker’s website in April, the story will also be published as an e-book in June. This project is co-commissioned by the Walker Art Center and Coffee House Press with support from the McKnight Foundation.

Members Get More

Free admission for members means you can visit and revisit Edward Hopper’s masterpieces. Join now and we’ll add in two free gallery passes ($28 value), so you can introduce your friends. Members also always get a 10% discount on shopping and dining.