Edward Hopper is known to have spent summers painting in Gloucester on five separate occasions: 1912, 1923, 1924, 1926 and 1928. His earliest visit in 1912, made in the company of fellow artist Leon Kroll, resulted in a series of oil paintings noted for their solid forms and rather dark palette. During his second visit to Cape Ann in 1923, Hopper courted the artist Josephine Nivison. He also began (at Nivison's urging) working in watercolor, capturing the local landscape and architecture in loosely rendered, light filled paintings. In 1924, Hopper and Nivison, who were newly married, returned to Gloucester on an extended honeymoon and continued to explore the area by foot and by streetcar. During his final two visits to the area, in 1926 and 1928, Hopper produced some of his finest paintings including Anderson's House, a watercolor of a stately yellow Italianate house just up Western Avenue from Stacy Boulevard, and Freight Cars, Gloucester, an oil showing railroad cars with the steeple of St. Ann's Church in the background. 

Cemetery in Gloucester Artist: Edward Hopper Date of Work: c. 1920s Medium: Conte crayon on paper Accession Number: 2009.51.13 Credit Line: Gift of the estate of Robert L. French, 2009 Collections: Land and Seascapes   Hopper composed this drawing of the Oak Hill Cemetery off Poplar Street during one of his visits to Gloucester in the 1920s. In the foreground runs a solid wall made of field stones which still stands today. Behind the grave markers, the roof tops and chimneys of houses which line Maplewood and Poplar Courts can be seen. It is not known if Hopper ever did a finished painting from this drawing.

View CAM's Rights and Reproduction policy