edward hopper

finally went to see the hopper&homer exhibition last weekend at the arts institute. five hours of divine bliss...

i won't pretend to be an art critic - i can't draw chickenscratch to save my own life, so sad - but here i submit some of the featured works of edward hopper and winslow homer, the few paintings that caught my awe, with a little commentary of my own:

(i must also inform you that these images do not do the paintings justice; for seeing the paintings naked on their own canvasses, your eyes tracing the brushstrokes, noticing the subtle shades and play of light, and your mind swimming in the narrative within; - to stand in front of these paintings themselves is a delight pure and true.)

ok, first off: edward hopper's most well-known work, his most celebrated, called "The Nighthawks":

The Nighthawks (1942) - click to view larger image

Critical studies of the painting often point to the typical observation: the contrast between the eerie bright (newly introduced, in 1942) flourescent light and the dark evening, the quietness in the characters, the sense of entrapment, the feeling of emptiness, the somber mood. hopper himself said that "unconsciously, probably, I was painting the loneliness of a large city." a better understanding of the painting might be helped by knowing this fact (which, curiously, wasn't mentioned at the exhibit): hopper painted this after the bombing at pearl harbor when lights-out law was in effect. hence a diner spilled with light suggested a sense of defiant hope, even if manifested by few, and in grim silence.

Next, "A New York Movie":

New York Movie (1939) - click to view larger image

My fascination with this painting is how hopper did it off-center, with the movie screen scarcely visible, and in a plush decorated velvety brass-polished theater stands the usher - aloof, alone, in a world of her own.


And finally, "A Room In New York":

A Room In New York (1932) - click to view larger image

it is night, we notice, us passers-by, as we glance into their window in this captured time. she is in her evening gown, perhaps to a dinner party. but he just sits, in his work clothes yet, skimming the headlines (or pretending to?), paying her no heed. she seems resign to wait for him to say something, anything!, as she pauses atop a piano note, wanting to break the uncomfortable silence. or perhaps she already did. is he annoyed? can you hear her, restless, touching the same note, again and again?

fascinating, yes? *smileee*
(gee-whiz i'm such a dork...)

for samples of hopper's other works, click here.
enjoy!