Talk:Josephine Hopper

Proposed merge

Because relationships don't confer notability and J.H. does not seem to have much notability of her own based on the current article, I'm recommending a merge to Edward Hopper.  Mbinebri  ^{talk ←} 18:12, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

I'm against merging. She was an artist in her own right, even if overshadowed by her husband. She is important at the very least as an influence on him (which the article has yet to cover, I'll try to expand later) and as diarist whose work is indispensable for Hopper scholars. Furthermore, Wikipedia already has countless examples such as Anna Magdalena Bach (wife of Johann Sebastian Bach, not a composer, not a notable performer in her own time), Saskia van Uylenburgh (Rembrandt's wife, not a painter, not notable otherwise), and others, of articles on wives of great men. --Jashiin (talk) 19:32, 16 August 2010 (UTC)

I'm also against merging; she had an identity of her own, or should have had. It's an old story, a woman putting her husband first; let's not perpetuate her husband's dominance over her. Sounds like Jo's full story has yet to be told. Her influence on her husband's work is in my view notable in itself, and it also sounds like her work was not given a fair appraisal by the Whitney. The fact that Edward Hopper felt competitive with Jo is evidence that her work is underrated and worthy of reappraisal, if any of it survives. Let Jo be Jo. Don Argus jr (talk) 23:31, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

I too disagree with merging the article. Jo Hopper's reputation seems to be slowly growing, and such of her art as survives is gradually receiving attention. No proper attempt has yet been made to exhibit her surviving art, or even to thoroughly catalogue it; when this does happen, I anticipate that she will come to receive greater public notice. As well, her extensive diaries have not yet been published, and are known to us primarily through the research of Gail Levin. At some point, these too will become publicly available, providing further information not only on her husband, but on the entire New York artistic scene in the early and mid-20th century.Seaside rendezvous (talk) 14:39, 15 May 2011 (UTC)

What percentage of her work was destroyed? I read somewhere it was like half? Viriditas (talk) 23:08, 20 March 2026 (UTC)

Update, please

In 2016, the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Provincetown, MA, announced that 69 drawings and watercolors by Jo Hopper were included in the gift of Laurence C. and J. Anton Schiffenhaus, along with 96 drawings by Edward Hopper. An exhibition of these works, "The Hoppers," opens in August 2017.

Any details about the success of this exhibition? Valetude (talk) 22:47, 22 October 2019 (UTC)

Diaries

Since her diaries have survived, a few extracts might shed more light on their complex married life. Valetude (talk) 02:10, 24 December 2019 (UTC)

If you're looking for more material on this then try The Lonely City by Olivia Laing. This book has a whole chapter (Walls of Glass) which covers Edward Hopper and Jo Hopper, their relationship, her influence and help with his career, and how he encouraged her to give up her work as an artist. She has accessed the archive with diaries etc. CharlotteBG87 (talk) 16:55, 5 March 2021 (UTC)

Self-portrait

Her self-portrait in the lead section is great. It's almost identical to a photo I saw of her from 1963. Viriditas (talk) 08:15, 24 January 2024 (UTC)

Arthur

She talks fondly of "Arthur", a cat she adopted around 1924 or so. Are there any paintings of Arthur? Viriditas (talk) 23:07, 20 March 2026 (UTC)

Quote: "In fact, in poring over hundreds of pages of Jo's journal entries, record books, and letters, it is clear that more of her emotional life is revealed through her relationship with Arthur than with any other person or subject. She wrote at length about her love for cats and how their presence had enriched her life and the lives of others who embraced them." (Colleary 2004). Viriditas (talk) 08:12, 24 March 2026 (UTC)

Watercolors

As Edward Hopper's wife and companion for more than 40 years, Jo influenced his work in numerous ways. Perhaps most importantly, it was her example that inspired Edward to seriously take up watercolor...

I'm looking at the source now. That's not exactly what it says. It says he took up watercolor independently of Jo, but they both shared a love for it, and that she inspired a competitive spirit in him that made him take it more seriously. The breakthrough here that you are trying to communicate, was that Jo convinced the Brooklyn Museum to show Hopper's work alongside her own. But by doing so, the critics favored Hopper over her own work. The rest is history. Viriditas (talk) 23:17, 20 March 2026 (UTC)