Description:

Josephine Hopper
New York, NY & Truro, MA, 1946-1967
The Intimate Life of Edward & Jo Hopper: 60 Pages of Correspondence From Jo to Cape Cod Neighbor on Edward's Health, Life Updates, & More!
Archive

A collection of correspondence from Josephine "Jo" Hopper (1883-1968), wife of renowned realist painter Edward Hopper (1882-1967), all addressed to her friend Marie Stephens. Ranging in date from 1946 to 1967, with the last dated nine months before Jo's death. Exhibits degrees of expected letter folds, handling marks, and general soiling throughout; areas of scattered paper loss and foxing to some envelopes. Overall, very good with interesting contents. Please see photographs for further condition information.

Consisting of approximately 60 pages of letters spanning nearly twenty years, including (2) ALS on postcards, (7) holiday cards signed "Edward + Jo", and (16) ALS to Stephens signed throughout as "Jo H.", all with their original holograph envelopes. All material has been written in Jo's hand, with the exception of one envelope addressed by Edward himself postmarked January 7, 1948. Within, Jo reveals candid details on her life with Edward, mentioning an important 1961 interview at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and his near-constant health struggles.

Excerpts include, in chronological order:

- May 18, 1948, Jo makes the first mention of her husband's decline in health: "Edward is just recovering from 3 operations & 6 weeks at the N.Y. Hospital. What a rotten winter! Edward has been back in the studio only a week or two. He's all right, going about, but gets tired out so easily."

- April 6, 1961, regarding an interview with Edward at the Boston MFA conducted by art critic Brian O'Doherty, Jo writes in part: "E. Hopper is answering questions on his subject over T.V. W.G.B.H. channel 2. Mon. Apr. 10 at 9 P.M. We are the guests of the Boston Museum at the Sheraton Plaza from Sat. after-noon until early Tues. a.m. Such a lark to be turned loose on Copley Sq. with its museums & library. The Mus. to keep an eye on us to see that E. is on hand for this program."

- November 21, 1962, mentioning finances, Jo writes in part: "E. didn't get that Rescue Squad check off before we left. The reason, he hadn't enough check blanks- the new checks now have the name printed on the check or, the signature- & a good idea too. & people drawing them are told to destroy all the old blanks… you probably understand the whole new system, but E. hadn't brought along enough checks & so the delay."

- July 11, 1966, concerning Edward's health and the status of his childhood home in Nyack: "E. H. is in hospital for hernia. Painful & pesky… More annoyances- the old water pipes in E's sister's house, the birthplace have been giving away, so no water there…".

- July 24-25, 1966, following up on Edward's hernia as written in the previous letter of the 11th, Jo explains: "HERNIA isn't GI. It's intestines- the big batch of tubes wound about in lower abdomen, held in by outer wall of abdomen- yards & yards of tubing! Some lengths of it can be cut off without noticing the loss sometimes. Edward's tubes aren't doing that… it has left E. very weak. The job is done, even all healed but he is very weak & only skin & bones. His eyes look so big. The job now is to get some strength."

- December 14 & 18, 1966, urgently writing after another health emergency in part: "I'm asking everyone with the gift of faith to pray for my Edward… I'll be at the New York Hospital 68th St. room 1304… all day with Edward & as much of the night as they let me while he is in danger… Edward doesn't want anyone to know- but you had to."

- June 10, 1967, dated a little less than a month after Edward's death, Jo pines for Cape Cod: "I don't know whether I dare return to the Cape this summer- with him GONE. Wow! But I can't afford such indulgence- the way men go off & get drunk when there is a job to be done- laying in some strength always supplied by the Cape & after the last 2 yrs I need it. And alone in this empty house here with everyone that one knows away could be more than I can take."

- June 15, 1967, a continuation of her letter of the 10th, she grieves: "This is not so good to be alone on Earth. Oh god- what is perfection together is heart breaking alone, and how well you have learned that! What a terrifying price is paid for an educated heart! And who wants one?"

- June 17, 1967, Jo, who had asked Stephens to come live with her after Edward's death, begins: "Marie, it may not be so good to advertise that I'm looking for your replacement. There is a great little of you & so many worthy ones could drive me crazy. I was spoiled with E. H. So silent & tall enough to hand down the moon & quite able to feed himself & expect so little & good with hammer & saw & did not snore! Well my Guardian Angel has always been on the job. He knows how little I can stand in personalities - & all that is amiss with my own. I'm very tired & surely won't be called upon for more endurance tests. E.H. never did get over our 3 months in the hospital- never a moment of privacy- exposed to wearing personalities & never a word out of him. He knew better, God help him. I told him I'd gladly go with him on a long trip that might be ahead. But not a word out of him until the last day, he volunteered I could come."

Jo and Edward Hopper were married on July 9, 1924 following a year-long courtship that lasted while the two were living at the same art colony in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Jo's personality, described as open, gregarious, and sociable- an opposite of Edward's- arguably helped to push his already established artistic career into prominence. In addition to managing the business and scheduling side of things, including his seldom-given interviews, she also modeled for the figures in most of her husband's paintings after the mid-1920s. Edward would only produce one oil painting of his wife, 'Jo Painting' (1936), but frequently made watercolors, drawings and caricatures of her.

Throughout her married life, Jo kept extensive diaries that recounted her life with Edward and his creative process. These diaries also reveal a troubled marriage; the couple had frequent rows that sometimes escalated into actual fighting. Indeed, Jo once remarked, "Sometimes talking to Eddie is just like dropping a stone in a well, except that it doesn't thump when it hits the bottom". As Edward's own career and reputation soared as a result of their union, Jo's simultaneously waned after the 1920s. An artist in her own right who studied under impressionist Robert Henri (1865-1929), she was perhaps most well known for her watercolors. Despite a difficult marriage and obvious creative differences, it is impossible to deny that without Jo, there would be no Edward Hopper as we known him today.

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This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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