Edward Hopper (Nyack, July 22, 1882 – New York, May 15, 1967) was an American painter, best known for his portraits of loneliness in contemporary American life. He is considered one of the painters of the Ashcan school, which through Arshile Gorky led to abstract expressionism after World War II.

Hopper entered the New York School of Art in 1900. At that institute he met other future protagonists of American art in the early 1950s: Guy Pène du Bois, Rockwell Kent, Eugene Speicher and George Bellows.

However, the contacts that were fundamental for his training and development as a painter were three of the school's teachers: William Merrit Chase, who encouraged him to study and copy what he saw in museums; Kenneth H. Miller, who educated him in a taste for sharp, clean painting, organized in an orderly spatial composition, and Robert Henri, who helped free the art of the time from the weight of academic norms, thus offering an example active young Hopper. After earning his degree, Hopper got his first job as an advertising illustrator at C. Phillips & Company.

Mostly known for his oil paintings, Hopper began to gain recognition for his watercolors and also produced some commercially successful prints. Additionally, his notebooks contain high-quality pencil and pen sketches, which were not made to be seen by the public.

Hopper paid particular attention to geographical design and the careful placement of human figures in balance with the environment. He was a slow and methodical artist; wrote, “It takes a long time for an idea to come. Afterwards I have to think about her for a long time. I don't start painting until I have everything figured out in my mind. It’s all good when I finally approach the easel.” He often made preliminary sketches to develop his carefully calculated compositions. He and his wife kept a detailed book with his works with notes such as “sad face of a dull woman” or For “New York Movie” (1939), Hopper demonstrates his meticulous preparation with more than 53 sketches of the interior of the theater and the figure of the thoughtful usherette.​

His effective use of light and shadow to create mood is central to Hopper's methods. Bright sunlight (as an emblem of introspection or revelation), and the shadows it casts also play symbolically powerful roles in Hopper's paintings such as “Early Sunday Morning” (1930), “Summertime” (1943), “Seven AM ” (1948) and “Sun in Empty Room” (1963). His use of lighting and shadow effects have been compared to film noir cinematography.