Edward Hopper was born on July 22, 1882 in Nyack, a township along the Hudson River in New York State. His parents were successful merchants. He and his sister attended many private and public schools, and from the age of five he showed a talent for drawing. His parents encouraged him to draw by giving him drawing materials and illustrated books. As a teenager, he began to draw in charcoal, ink and watercolour, and even produced political caricatures.

He began studying art by correspondence in 1899. He then enrolled at the New York School of Art and Design where he studied for six years. Between 1906 and 1910, Edward Hopper made three trips to Europe. In addition to Paris, Hopper visited other European cities (Amsterdam, London, Madrid, Toledo, Berlin, Brussels). Paris being at the time the centre of Western art, he was able to discover the latest trends (impressionism and symbolism, fauvism) as well as the masters of the last century in European museums.

Hopper moved permanently to New York in 1908 and lived there. He was an illustrator and commercial artist for periodicals and books. In the years 1910-1920, Hopper participated in various exhibitions, but without much success. However, with the exhibition of his work, he began to be recognised by art critics. His first solo exhibition was at the Frank K. Rehn Gallery in New York in 1924. Rehn Gallery in New York in 1924, which featured mainly watercolours. The majority of his paintings were sold. In 1930, the newly founded MoMA (Museum of Modern Art, New York) bought his painting House by the Railroad. He later painted Nighthawks in 1942 and Room by the Sea in 1951.

Edward Hopper died at his New York home in Washington Square on 15 May 1967.