House at Dusk (Primary Title)

Edward Hopper, American, 1882 - 1967 (Artist)

Educational
1935
American
Oil on canvas
United States
Unframed: 36 1/4 × 50 in. (92.08 × 127 cm)
Framed: 45 1/4 × 59 in. (114.94 × 149.86 cm)
53.8
Not on view

Edward Hopper’s evocative pictures of modern America have a haunting appeal, so firmly are they embedded in the cultural imagination. House at Dusk, imbued with the artist’s defining themes of temporality and ambiguity, is one of the strongest and most lyrical oils of his mature career. The scene is set at the “exquisite hour” of dusk, that most transitional time of day. As in many of his works, Hopper introduces a suspenseful narrative element with the figure of a woman silhouetted by artificial light, seemingly unaware of the subtle afterglow taking place behind her apartment house.

House at Dusk was purchased by VMFA for $4,000 in 1953. Acquired sixteen years after the artist served as a juror for the museum’s first biennial exhibition, the painting was recommended by no less an authority on contemporary painting than Alfred Barr, then the director of New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

Signed at lower left: " E. HOPPER"
John Barton Payne Fund
Edward Hopper: New York and Beyond, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea, April 20 - August 20, 2023

Edward Hopper's New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, October 20, 2022 - March 5, 2023

Edward Hopper and the American Hotel, VMFA, October 26, 2019 - February 23, 2020; Newfields, Indianapolis, IN, July 17 - October 25, 2020.

America: Painting a Nation, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia, November 7, 2013 – February 2, 2014

Edward Hopper, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain, June 12 – September 16, 2012; Grand Palais, Paris, October 5, 2012 – February 2, 2013

Edward Hopper, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Boston, Mass., May 6 – August 19, 2007; The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., September 16, 2007 – January 21, 2008; The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, February 16 – May 11, 2008

Edward Hopper, Tate Modern, London, May 27 – September 5, 2004

Made in U.S.A.: l'Art Américain, 1908–1947, Musée des Beaux–Arts, Bordeaux, October 5 – December 31, 2001; Musée des Beaux–Arts, Rennes, January 17 – March 31, 2002; and Musée des Beaux–Arts, Montpellier, April 10 – June 25, 2002

Edward Hopper and the American Imagination, The Whitney Museum of American Art, June 21 – October 15, 1995

Edward Hopper. Gagosian Gallery, New York, NY, October 7 – November 13, 1993

Die Wahrheit des Sichtbaren [The Truth of the Real], Museum of Folkwang, Essen, Germany, June 2 – September 20, 1992

Edward Hopper, Shirn Kunst-halle, Frankfurt, Germany, November 27, 1992 – February 30, 1993

Edward Hopper, Musee Cantini, Marseille, France, June 23 – September 24, 1989; March Foundation, Madrid, Spain, October 6, 1989 – January 6, 1990

1935 The Year and the Arts, Hofstra University, Emily Lowe Gallery, Hempstead, NY, April 18 – June 23, 1985

Edward Hopper, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, September 16, 1980 – January 25, 1981

Two Decades of American Painting 1920-1940, [also referred to as: American Modern Art Between the Two World Wars], Städtische Kunsthalle, Dusseldorf, West Germany, June 10 – August 12, 1979; Kunsthaus Zurich, Switzerland, August 23 – October 28, 1979; Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium, November 15 – December 31, 1979

Paintings of the American Scene: Hopper, Burchfield, and Marsh, Artmobile, January 1974 – May 1975

Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, CA, January 12 – February 23, 1972; The Pasadena Art Museum, March 7 – April 30, 1972

Edward Hopper, The William A Farnsworth Library and Art Museum, Rockland, ME, July 9 – September 5, 1971; The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Penn., September 15 – October 31, 1971

Works of Edward Hopper, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, September 29 – November 29, 1964; The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, December 18, 1964 – January 31, 1965; Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI, February 18 – March 21, 1965; The City Art Museum of St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, April 7 – May 9, 1965

The Edward Hopper Exhibition of Oils and Watercolors, University Art Gallery, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, April 20 – May 19, 1963

Works by Hopper and Corbino, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, March 7 – 28, 1956

Special Loan Exhibition, The Wednesday Club, Danville, Va., April 1 – 18, 1953

Judge the Jury, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Va., February 13 – March 22, 1953

XXVI Biennale di Venezia, United States Pavilion, Venice, Italy, June 14 – October 19, 1952

54th Annual Exhibition: American Paintings and Sculpture, The Art Institute of Chicago, October 28 – December 12, 1943

48th Annual Exhibition: American Paintings and Sculpture, The Art Institute of Chicago, November 18, 1937 – January 16, 1938

The Exhibition of Contemporary American Art, New York World’s Fair, New York, 1939.

©artist or artist’s estate

Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.