CUSTOMary Steps
by the Custom House on Commercial Street, Portland, Maine, on the National Register of Historic Places, on June 1, 2023, painted June 4, 2023, 10" x 8" (w x h), Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed, $300, for sale online at my art blog
Edward Hopper
Art Series Conclusion
Portland, Maine
Edward Hopper (1882-1967, American
Watercolor on paper, 20" x 14" (w x h), 1927
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT
Portland's grand, granite Custom House, built after the Great Fire of July 4, 1866, from 1868 to 1872 as a fireproof structure, looks virtually identical today as when Hopper saw it 96 years ago in 1927. It's architecture is distinctive and remains on the US National Register of Historic Places. Though in Maine and painting many coastal scenes, Hopper's familiarity with painting New York city scenes perhaps played into his choice to paint this urban Maine scene of the Custom House and slope of Pearl Street. The building with the chimneys is the Knight Brothers brass foundry located on the corner with Custom House Street. It was formerly The Friendly Inn, run by the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. This building is long gone, replaced with a large glass-windowed building.
Edward and his wife Jo stayed in nearby Cape Elizabeth that summer, painting his many works of the coast and Lighthouse at Two Lights.
Edward Hopper (1882-1967, American
Watercolor and graphite pencil on paper,
20" x 14" (w x h), 1927
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
In 1927 the Hoppers purchased a used 1925 Dodge and drove to Maine. Jo didn't consider Edward a very good driver. She eventually got her driver's license despite Edwards attempt to thwart this.
Edward Hopper (1882-1967, American
Collage on paper, 6" x 3", 1929
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
After Edward and Jo Hopper spent their 1927 and 1929 summers at Cape Elizabeth, Maine amid the lighthouses and his paintings of them, their 1929 Christmas card was a collage of a lighthouse by Edward.
Strange but True Fact: Of the many Edward Hopper paintings and sketches, there are landscapes, cityscapes, and seascapes, there are men and women, his wife Jo his main model, but hardly none, if any, of children in his art painted when he was an adult.
Sketched when Edward Hopper was a teenager, 13-17 year-old, circa 1895-1899
Edward Hopper (1882-1967, American
Graphite pencil on paper,
3" x 5" (w x h), circa 1895-1899
Whitney Museum of Fine Art, New York, NY
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