Anything but Still Lives: The Worlds of Edward Hopper

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This collection of short fiction takes nine iconic Edward Hopper canvases and imagines a narrative beyond the frame of each ‘still life’, leading the reader on a journey through the interwar and later years of Hopper’s women, whose lives are anything but still, and whose experiences transcend the cultural and historical constraints of their all-too-human condition, as conjured by Hopper’s art.Through iconic and oft-reproduced works, American realist Edward Hopper (1882-1967) gained widespread recognition as the artist who gave visual form to the anonymity, isolation and (perhaps) boredom, loneliness and stagnation of twentieth century American life. This collection of short fiction takes nine Hopper canvases and imagines a narrative beyond the frame of each ‘still life’ presented therein. Just as filmmakers like Sam Mendes or Wim Wenders were energised by Hopper’s tableux to introduce temporal and spatial motion to moments frozen in time, so too will this suite of stories take the reader on a journey through the interwar and later years of Hopper’s women. Their lives anything but still, with experiences transcending the cultural and historical constraints of their all-too-human condition, these works of painterly prose invite the reader to enter and explore the worlds conjured by Hopper’s art in text.