The Maine Statehood Forever stamp, featuring Edward Hopper’s “Sea at Ogunquit” painting, was released March 15. Here are five facts about the artist (1882-1967).
1. Hopper studied at the New York School of Art and Design. While at the school, which later became the Parsons School of Design, he was influenced by the works of the French impressionists Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas. Hopper also traveled to Paris three times between 1906 and 1910 to study art.
2. He left New York City during the summer to escape the heat. Initially, he would travel to the Massachusetts coast, where he started painting outdoor scenes, before making Maine his regular destination.
3. Hopper spent nine summers in Maine. He traveled to the state for the season for the first time in 1914 and continued until 1929. During these years, he painted scenes of the Maine coast, using oil and watercolors.
4. “Sea at Ogunquit” is now part of the Whitney Museum of American Art’s collection. The oil-on-canvas painting was donated to the New York City museum by Hopper’s wife, Josephine.
5. One of Hopper’s paintings, “Chop Suey,” was sold at auction in 2018 for $92 million. He created 366 paintings during his lifetime and his works can be found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts and the High Museum of Art, among others, as well as in private collections.