Edward Hopper's Early Works Revealed as Copies from Art Magazines

A recent discovery by Louis Shadwick, a PhD student at the Courtauld Institute in London, has revealed that at least three of Edward Hopper's early oil paintings were direct copies of works published in the late 19th-century art magazine Art Interchange. Shadwick's research, published in The Burlington Magazine on September 29, 2020, shows that Hopper's family subscribed to the magazine, which included collectible color prints and how-to instructions for amateur artists. Among the copied works are 'Ships' (ca. 1898), which duplicates Edward Moran's 'A Marine' from the 1886 issue; 'Rawboat in Rocky Cove' (1895), long believed to be Hopper's first oil painting, which copies an anonymous watercolor titled 'Lake View' from the 1891 issue; and 'Old Ice Pond at Nyack' (1897), previously thought to be a youthful original, which replicates Bruce Crane's 'A Winter Sunset'. Additionally, 'Church and Landscape' (1897) is a copy of a Victorian ceramic plaque. The discovery challenges long-held beliefs about Hopper's early originality and has implications for the art market, as 'Old Ice Pond at Nyack' is currently for sale by Heather James Fine Art for $300,000–$400,000. Kim Conaty, curator at the Whitney Museum, expressed surprise at the revelation. Shadwick suggests that Hopper may not have produced any original work until he enrolled at the New York School of Art in autumn 1900.