# Dennis Hopper artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/dennis-hopper/
Profile generated: 2026-05-23T18:14:00.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1936-05-17
- Death date: 2010-06-29
- Nationality: American
- Movements: New Hollywood, Contemporary Art
- Common media: photography, painting

## About Dennis Hopper

Dennis Hopper (1936–2010) was an American photographer, painter, filmmaker, and actor widely recognized as one of the defining figures of the New Hollywood era. While best known to the public for his work in film — including directing and starring in Easy Rider (1969) — Hopper maintained a serious parallel practice as a visual artist throughout his life. His photography, in particular, captured the artists, musicians, and counterculture personalities of 1960s Los Angeles and New York, and his work is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Active as an artist from the early 1950s until his death in 2010, Hopper's visual output spans documentary-style black-and-white photography, painting, and mixed-media works. His dual legacy across film and fine art gives his work a distinctive crossover appeal for collectors.

## Common works and media

Collectors are most likely to encounter Hopper's silver gelatin and chromogenic photographic prints, often depicting portraits of artists, actors, and musicians from the 1960s and 1970s. He also produced paintings and mixed-media works on canvas and paper. Editioned prints in limited runs are typical at auction. Less commonly, original drawings and collage works appear. Buyers should distinguish between fine-art photographs created by Hopper and film posters, production stills, or other memorabilia that reference his acting and directing career.

## Market and appraisal context

Dennis Hopper's photographs and paintings appear regularly at post-war and contemporary art auctions. Key factors affecting value include the specific medium (silver gelatin and chromogenic prints are most common), edition size, print date, provenance, and the subject depicted. Works with documented gallery or institutional provenance tend to achieve stronger results. Collectors should note that Hopper's art-market profile benefits from his cultural celebrity, which can produce a premium but also introduces a wide range of material — from fine-art photographs to film memorabilia — that should be evaluated on separate criteria. His 285 auction records tracked by Appraisily reflect a broad but active market.

## Appraisily data basis

This artist page combines identity research from the Getty Union List of Artist Names, the RKD, VIAF, Wikidata, and MoMA collection records with Appraisily's auction-lot database. When available, comparable sale records, auction-house cataloguing, provenance details, and realized prices are incorporated to support appraisal guidance.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q102711
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Hopper
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500114625
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/85509939/
- RKD: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/378138
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/7964
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/nr88002145