Updated: September 6, 2007

"Edward Hopper" Exhibition Film Features Interviews with Artists Eric Fischl and Red Grooms; Produced by National Gallery of Art, Washington

DVD cover with Edward Hopper’s Chop Suey (1929)
Collection of Mr. Barney A. Ebsworth
Click here to order film images

Washington, DC –The iconic paintings and artistic impact of Edward Hopper (1882–1967) are the subject of a new documentary film that accompanies the exhibition Edward Hopper on its national tour. Narrated by the award-winning actor, writer, and Hopper art collector Steve Martin and produced by the National Gallery of Art, the 30-minute film premiered to television audiences on New York's WNET Channel 13 on Sunday, August 19 at 10:30 p.m. In the Washington area, the documentary will be shown on WETA Channel 26 on Thursday, September 6 at 10:30 p.m. and in the Baltimore area on WMPT Channel 67 on Sunday, September 23 at 7:30 p.m. Additional air dates to be announced.

At the National Gallery, the film will be shown in its entirety in the East Building auditoriums, dates to be announced. A 15-minute version of the film will be shown continuously in a theater inside the exhibition.

The film is made possible by the HRH Foundation.

The Exhibition

The classic works of Edward Hopper (1882-1967) capture the realities of urban and rural American life with a poignancy and beauty that have placed them among the most enduring and popular images of the 20th century. This exhibition of 47 oil paintings, 35 watercolors, 12 prints, and two notebooks, arranged chronologically and thematically, reveals Hopper as a creator of compelling images who produced remarkably powerful effects in both oil and watercolor.

The Film

The documentary includes archival footage of Hopper, new footage of places that inspired him in New York and New England, including his boyhood home in Nyack and his studio on Washington Square, where he lived and worked for more than 50 years. From their New York studios, artists Red Grooms and Eric Fischl discuss Hopper's influence on their careers. Co-curators of the exhibition—Carol Troyen, the Kristin and Roger Servison curator of paintings, Art of the Americas, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Judith Barter, The Field-McCormick Chair of American Art at The Art Institute of Chicago, as well as independent scholar Avis Berman, author of Hopper's New York, discuss recent and diverse perspectives on Hopper's art.

Hopper's passion for the movies, particularly film noir classics from the 1930s such as The Public Enemy, is revealed in the film, which also shows the influence of Hopper's work on the set designs of filmmakers who came after him, including Alfred Hitchcock and Wim Wenders.

The 30-minute minute DVD is currently available for $19.99 through the National Gallery of Art Shops. To order the DVD, call (800) 697-9350 or (202) 842-6002; fax (202) 789-3047; or e-mail mailorder@nga.gov.

Support and Organization

Edward Hopper is organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; National Gallery of Art, Washington; and The Art Institute of Chicago.

The exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington is made possible by a generous grant from the global consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.

General Information

The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden are at all times free to the public. They are located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, and are open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Gallery is closed on December 25 and January 1. For information call (202) 737-4215 or the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) at (202) 842-6176, or visit the Gallery's Web site at www.nga.gov.

Visitors will be asked to present all carried items for inspection upon entering the East and West Buildings. Checkrooms are free of charge and located at each entrance. Luggage and other oversized bags must be presented at the 4th Street entrances to the East or West Building to permit x-ray screening and must be deposited in the checkrooms at those entrances. For the safety of visitors and the works of art, nothing may be carried into the Gallery on a visitor's back. Any bag or other items that cannot be carried reasonably and safely in some other manner must be left in the checkrooms. Items larger than 17 x 26 inches cannot be accepted by the Gallery or its checkrooms.

For additional press information please call or send inquiries to:

Press Office
National Gallery of Art
2000B South Club Drive
Landover, MD 20785
phone: (202) 842-6353 e-mail: pressinfo@nga.gov

Deborah Ziska
Chief of Press and Public Information
(202) 842-6353
ds-ziska@nga.gov

If you are a member of the press and would like to be added to our press list, click here.