“No other persona better signifies the lost idealism of the 1960s than that of Dennis Hopper“, said film critic Matthew Hays. The actor was best known for his numerous film & filmmaking credits, but he was also enamored with the world of art & poetry, himself an avid & talented photographer, painter, poet and sculptor.

Art Forum 1964 (1988) by Dennis-Hopper

Dennis Hopper - actor, filmmaker & artist

Dennis Hopper‘s impressive film career began with his film debut in the 1955 movie Rebel Without A Cause, starring James Dean, of whom Hopper was an immense fan. Hopper also appeared in the 1956 James Dean film, Giant. The death of James Dean following a tragic automobile accident had a profound impact on the young Hopper, who became distraught & difficult to work with & who is reported to have refused direction for over 80 takes during several days while shooting From Hell To Texas.

Double Standard (1961) by Dennis Hopper

The Grateful Dead (1965) by Dennis Hopper

Ostracized by film studios across Hollywood because of his reputation for being “difficult,” Dennis Hopper turned to photography. He became quite prolific, creating cover art for Ike & Tina Turner, and taking several photos of “people of interest” – musicians, actors, poets, and artists that Hopper thought had the potential to become successful. Noted writer Terry Southern profiled Hopper in Better Homes and Gardens as an up & coming photographer “to watch” in the mid 1960′s.

Roy Lichtenstein (1964) by Dennis Hopper

Jefferson Airplane (1965) by Dennis Hopper

Dennis Hopper encountered a plethora of amazing talents, among them some of the most influential artists of the 20th century, including Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Roy Lichtenstein, Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray and Salvador Dali. Hopper is included among the Andy Warhol‘s famous Screen Tests, a series of silent films created by the artist between 1964 and 1966.

Untitled Tire with Paper Shreds (1988) by Dennis Hopper

After The Fall (1961-1964) by Dennis Hopper

Dennis Hopper, who received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in March of 2010, has also received the rank of commander in France’s Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) for his contributions to the arts. He was an avid art collector, as well as an artist, and purchased an original of one of Andy Warhol‘s Campbell’s Soup Cans for $75.00. Hopper recently curated an art show in Taos, New Mexico at the Harwood Museum. Selections included artwork by artists Larry Bell, Ken Price, Ronald Davis, Ron Cooper, and Dean Stockwell.

Dean Stockwell (1964) by Dennis Hopper

Larry Bell (1964) by Dennis Hopper

Fractured Girl (1988) by Dennis Hopper

Andy Warhol with Flower (2006) by Dennis Hopper

This article can’t begin to give you more than the vaguest of glimpses into what can only be described as an extraordinary life. Dennis Hopper was an intense and complicated individual, impassioned & intelligent. His death is a tragic loss for the art world & the entire world. Hopper passed away on the morning of May 29th, 2010 having recently celebrated his 74th birthday. He had been battling cancer since the fall of 2009.

Namaste, Mr. Hopper.

Bad Heart (1988) by Dennis Hopper

‘If’
by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on”;

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings – nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man my son!

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