Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
Considered one of the most influential realist painters of the 20th century, Edward Hopper portrayed American life through moody tableaux which still possess a great deal of cultural influence. Born in 1882, just 25 miles north of New York City, Hopper was uniquely situated in time and place to witness the burgeoning of cinema as an art form. In this instalment from the YouTube series Great Art Explained, the UK curator, gallerist and video essayist James Payne explores how Hopper was one of the first artists to be directly influenced by cinema, and how filmmakers were, in turn, influenced by his stark and contemplative visual style. Through keen comparisons rendered side by side, Payne makes a compelling argument that the visual language of cinema has been shaped by fine art, and that Hopper’s work in particular was, and remains, an enduring influence on moviemaking.
Video by Great Art Explained
video
Biology
Flicker through the eclectic beauty and biological diversity of 2,400 leaves
3 minutes
video
Animals and humans
What happened when one woman raised an abandoned squirrel as her own
8 minutes
video
Art
The female Abstract Expressionists of New York shook the world of art
15 minutes
video
The future
What’s the healthiest way to handle a creeping feeling that the world is ending?
15 minutes
video
Archaeology
From Roman pots to glass eyes, the shore of the river Thames teems with surprises
8 minutes
video
Psychiatry and psychotherapy
Pondering the peculiar one-sided intimacy of the client-therapist relationship
3 minutes
video
History of science
Bat-people on the Moon – what a famed 1835 hoax reveals about misinformation today
8 minutes
video
Human rights and justice
Thirty years after one teenager shot another, is it time to forgive?
28 minutes
video
Biotechnology
What it’s like to wear a prosthetic that ‘feels’
6 minutes