The Analysis of Edward Hopper’s Paint Box

Institution: Winterthur Museum

Date: (est.) c. 1892-1900

Manufactured by: (likely) F.W. Devoe

Materials: Likely Japanned Tin, Painted

Dimensions: 9 x 13 x 3 inches

Inscriptions: None

Owner: Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center; Sanborn-Hopper Family Archive

Supervisor: Catherine Matsen (Senior Scientist; Affiliated Associate Professor, University of Delaware)

Consulted: Joyce Hill Stoner (Director, University of Delaware Preservation Studies Doctoral Program)

Information

  • The Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center has two of Edward Hopper’s paint boxes in their possession - one from the beginning of his career and one from the very end. I will be analyzing the early paint box as part of my 2nd-year science project required by the WUDPAC program.

    My proposal (download at left) describes both paint boxes, but I may only have time to concentrate on the early paint box this semester.

    In April 2024, I will be presenting my research at the annual ANAGPIC (Association of North American Graduate Programs in the Conservation of Cultural Property) Conference.

    “ANAGPIC is an annual student conference held by the North American conservation graduate programs where students present lectures of the highest caliber, sharing their research, leadership, and training with peers and faculty.” - from Wikipedia

  • Edward Hopper's early materials and techniques will be examined through the instrumental analysis of a palette and the decorated surface of a paint box from the Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center. The techniques of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (pyGC-MS) will be used to characterize and interpret the pigments, media, and fillers of the paints. Recent scholarship has revealed that Hopper copied some of his early oil paintings from a short-lived, turn-of-the-century magazine, Art Interchange. The results of the analysis will be compared to instructions given in an 1890 issue of Art Interchange, from which Hopper copied Old Ice Pond at Nyack (1898-1900). The magazine describes in detail how to paint the image Hopper copied, including specific pigments and mediums. The analysis may link the paint box and palette to other early works and provide insights into the magazine's influence on Hopper's formative years. It will be the first technical study comparing Hopper’s paint materials to the ones described in the magazine.

  • A drawing by a young Edward Hopper at the Whitney Museum of American Art depicts a paint box that looks very similar to the one at the Edward Hopper House Museum and an early oil painting by Hopper. Hopper copied this painting from a short-lived turn-of-the-century amateur art journal. All volumes of the journal, "Art Interchange" are at the Winterthur Library and I was able to examine the one describing how to paint the landscape Hopper painted. The magazine gives very specific instructions including pigments and mediums. My analysis will be compared to the materials described by the magazine.