A Fisherman

22 July 1882 – 1910 · Residence

Edward Hopper Birthplace and Boyhood Home

aged 12 (1894 – 1895)

At twelve he grows 30 cm in a year: the nickname “Grasshopper”

In a single year the twelve-year-old Hopper grows 30 centimetres, reaching 180; because of his thin build and the likeness of his name to “grasshopper” his classmates tease him with that nickname, and the teasing deepens a tendency to solitude that stays with him all his life.

1899

Resolves to become an artist

Graduating from Nyack High School in 1899, where he carved wooden models of sailboats and barges and dreamed of becoming a naval architect, Hopper declares that he will be an artist; his parents insist on a commercial course for the sake of a reliable income. His outlook is shaped by Ralph Waldo Emerson, whom he later reads over and over again.

1899–1905

The school of Chase and Henri: not the subject, but how you feel about it

At the New York School of Art and Design, where he spends six years, William Merritt Chase teaches him oil painting and at first Hopper models his style on Chase, Manet and Degas, while sketching from live models proves shocking for the conservatively raised young man. Robert Henri, who teaches the life class, urges his students to “make a stir in the world” and teaches that it is not the subject that counts but what you feel about it.

1900–1906 · Education

Parsons School of Design