Lighthouse Village (also known as Cape Elizabeth) (1929): Art, History and Details

Lighthouse Village (also known as Cape Elizabeth) (1929) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Edward Hopper (American, 1882–1967).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Edward Hopper made this watercolor during the last of several painting excursions that he took to Maine. He had painted the lighthouse at Cape Elizabeth once two years before, but found the structure so interesting that he returned to it in this drawing. Hopper was especially attracted to the varying green tones of the grass and the combination of buildings, each with a different purpose, including one where the lighthouse keepers slept and the three at the bottom where coast guard families lived. He used a slightly different tone of watercolor for each of the structures to accurately convey the reflection of light on them.

Object facts

• Title: Lighthouse Village (also known as Cape Elizabeth)
• Date: 1929
• Creator attribution: Edward Hopper (American, 1882–1967)
• Culture: America
• Type: Drawing
• Technique: Watercolor with graphite and scraping on paper
• Dimensions: Sheet: 40.5 x 63.3 cm (15 15/16 x 24 15/16 in.)
• Collection: DR - American 20th Century
• Department: Drawings
• Accession number: 1930.851

A detail from the museum

In an interview published in 1962, Edward Hopper described this watercolor's setting, saying that "I like Maine very much but it gets so cold in fall."

Collection credit

Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection

Further reading listed by the museum

• Hopper, Edward and Jo Hopper. Artist's Ledger Book I. 1993-63.
• An Exhibition of Paintings, Water Colors, and Etchings by Edward Hopper. Pittsburgh: Carnegie Institute, 1937.
• O'Connor, Jr, John. "Edward Hopper, American Artist." Carnegie Magazine 10, no. 10 (March 1937): 303-306.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.