Edward Hopper
1882-1967 · American · American Realism
Auction record: $91.88M
Chop Suey, 1929 · Christie's, New York · Nov 13, 2018
Source: theartnewspaper.com
Biography
Edward Hopper was the defining painter of modern American life. After training in New York and three stays in Paris, he developed from the 1920s a spare realism of diners, offices, hotel rooms, gas stations and coastal houses, bathed in raking light and charged with isolation, as in Nighthawks (1942). He also produced a major body of watercolours and etchings. Most of his key paintings are in museums, especially the Whitney, which holds the bequest of his widow Josephine, so major oils are very rare at auction. When they appear, prices are high: Chop Suey (1929) set his record at 91.9 million dollars at Christie's New York in 2018, and even a small Monhegan oil fetched 4.1 million dollars in May 2026.
Recent auction results
| Monhegan LighthouseSotheby's | $4.15M | May 20, 2026 | pressherald.com |
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Market
- Liquidity: Low
Museums
- Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Museum of Modern Art, New York
- Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- National Gallery of Art, Washington
News
- Oct 20, 2026: All six of Edward Hopper’s early oils, long thought to be original works, revealed to be copies The Art Newspaper
Sources
- The Art Newspaper, Record 91.9m sale of Chop Suey
- Bloomberg, Hopper's Chop Suey sets record
- Portland Press Herald, Monhegan Lighthouse sells for more than 4m
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