ELLISON HOOVER
Washington Arch.
Lithograph, circa 1930. 290x237 mm; 11x9½ inches, full margins. Edition of 40. Signed in pencil, lower margin. A very good impression.Like Edward Hopper, Hoover (1888-1955) had also supported himself as a commercial illustrator. Though Hopper disliked this line of work, once claiming that, "Illustrating was a depressing experience. And I didn't get very good prices because I didn't often do what they wanted," Hoover found his work more fulfilling, becoming a syndicated cartoonist while also enjoying a reputation as an accomplished fine artist and printmaker. Hoover was born in Cleveland and studied at the Cleveland School of Art and the Art Students League in New York. There are stylistic parallels between Hoover and Hopper, in a 1950 review of Hoover's Parisian scenes, Margaret Breuning for The Art Digest commented that they, "Seize the feel of place so trenchantly that they are nostalgic. They are little vignettes of different phases of the city's life, only slightly stressing architectural setting. With a few deft touches of color and surety of line the artist weaves, through one vivid incident, a whole pattern of life and living."