"During the summer of 1923, Edward Hopper fled the summer heat of New York City with thousands of others. His destination was the resort town of Gloucester. It was there - perhaps inspired by the particular light and quality of the place - that he took up the medium of watercolor. It was also there that he met his future wife, fellow painter, and constant companion, Jo Nivison.

Together that summer Hopper and Jo turned their backs on Gloucester Harbor and the forest of easels set up to depict that most popular of scenes. Instead they explored the back streets and outlying areas, discovering and painting the homes of sea captains and immigrant laborers, Coast Guard stations, and lighthouses.".

"Virginia Mecklenburg, senior curator at the National Museum of American Art, and Margaret Lynne Ausfeld curator at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, offer us in this volume the unique treatment of this aspect of Hopper's work as a coherent whole. In the watercolors we see a different facet of Hopper than the one we are accustomed to from his oils, for which be is better known today."--BOOK JACKET.