Artist Aldren Watson, the accomplished son of two New York City printmakers, has made a beautiful and historically rich collection of watercolors depicting the part of the city he loved the waterfront and harbor of lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. Based on photographs taken by his father in the twenties and thirties, seen here are the city s docks, storefronts, bustling streets, and iconic bridges. These 46 watercolors give us an intimate and accurate sense of the past in this diverse locale. Each painting is accompanied by descriptive and informative text, placing the view in the context of the city and its history."

This magnificent volume reproduces all of Hopper's 357 watercolor paintings . They were first published in the four-volume catalogue raisonne of the artist's works. Now they are offered at a price that will make them attractive to anyone seriously interested in art. Hopper was comfortable in both oil and watercolor, although his technique with each medium varied considerably. While oils were done in the studio, often from detailed sketches with notations on colors, the watercolors were painted on location and seem far more spontaneous. In the years since Hopper's death in 1967, many of his paintings have achieved iconographic status as statements about this country. His empty cityscapes and countrysides speak of our sense of loneliness and alienation, while his fascination with the light on Cape Cod and the buildings in Gloucester result in the evocation of feelings that can only be described as uniquely American.