The Vittoriano Complex’s retrospective on American realist painter Edward Hopper traces his artistic evolution, from the Parisian watercolours to the landscapes and cityscapes of the 1950s and 1960s. In more than 60 paintings, we find his iconic sunlit seascapes painted in light tones, large colonial houses and lonely gas stations, along with urban landscapes and views of lighthouses on the Atlantic coast.

Hopper’s works portray solitude, silence and light; he painted the essence of everyday scenes as seen from the outside –either depicted with a sense of shyness or marked by a sensual, voyeuristic atmosphere- and quiet landscapes devoid of any human presence, which prove extremely communicative despite the feelings of isolation that they convey.
This exhibit covers all the techniques employed by the artist, including his highly-detailed drawings and sketching, which he never considered “works of art,” but rather essential preparatory studies for final paintings that would eventually evoke surreal, almost metaphysical atmospheres.

Edward Hopper ends with a section devoted to cinema, featuring internationally known directors who were inspired by Hopper’s iconic oblique perspective, which divides the frame into zones of light and shade.