Introduction to Hopper Drawing

Narrator: Welcome to Hopper Drawing. 

Carter Foster: I'm Carter Foster, Steven and Ann Ames Curator of Drawing at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

This show is actually the first ever to delve into Hopper's drawing practice. 

What we can see in Hopper's drawing is the essence of his creative process. We can see him working on ideas for paintings. We can see him honing his artistic skills on paper. Drawing is a very naked medium. It's a medium that you can't hide behind in any way. And the directness of it is quite appealing. And we see Hopper's absolute virtuoso skill in this medium and how deeply it was important to him in terms of creating all of his other artwork. 

Narrator: The exhibition is organized thematically around [Edward] Hopper’s most important paintings, which are shown alongside related drawings. This multimedia guide will point out connections between the drawings and paintings, allowing you to see Hopper’s working process up close. 

The first gallery—directly in front of you as you come off the elevator—presents an overview of Hopper’s drawing practice.