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The act of peering gives the viewer the sense that what is being seen is wholly real and unfiltered; “the self-absorbed figures do not know of his presence; otherwise, they would be embarrassed, startled, or otherwise uncomfortable.” Thus, the narrative Hopper portrays is one of unapologetic realness. The harsh lines and blocks of color that frame the scene not only divide the space between viewer and subject but also divide space within the room itself. Hopper places a door almost exactly center to divide the work into two distinct halves horizontally, isolating the man and the woman into their respective sides. While the man reads the newspaper, his counterpart plays the piano with her back to him. Blocks of color delineate space and suggest a lack of movement. Art historian and scholar Jean
Gillies argues that the less details the viewer has to look at, the slower the eye will move across the work. The idea comes from the notion that when viewing a work of art, the eye jumps from detail to detail in order to perceive the whole. By reducing the number of elements, Hopper creates a slow moving or even still scene. Gilles argues the formal techniques function to give the subjects a timeless quality as if they are frozen in that instant.
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figures might be a relic of his previous work in advertising. While it was well known Hopper gave himself very little credit when talking about his longtime work as a book and magazine illustrator, some of the formal qualities seen in commercial work tend to appear in his oil paintings. Specifically, art historian Linda
Nochlin argues that Hopper still held on to "vestiges of its figural conventions, its spatial shorthand, and its coy puritan stiffness of contour." These rigid formalities in regard to shape are what Nochlin argues gives Hopper’s work an undeniably American look.
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The scene of a brightly lit room is contained within the dark sill of a window. The stark framing makes the room the main focus, drawing the eye and giving realness to the action of peeping into a space where the subjects are unaware they are being watched. The genuineness of spying is a product of
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might be something of a companion piece to Room in New York. Stanton points out the couple by the railroad might actually be the same couple in Room in New York, just three or four decades older. In both works, the dresses the women wear are the same color and the extremely dark hair and pale skin
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The feeling of separation often connected to the New York City flat is a running theme in Hopper’s work. In particular, Hopper’s pieces that contain two main subjects cut deep to the idea of loneliness. Hopper’s couples tend to be a man and woman in close proximity and yet completely oblivious to
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A majority of scholars focus on loneliness and alienation as the theme of Hopper's work. Art historian Pamela Koob points out that the "solitary figures in Hopper’s paintings may well be evocations of such contented solitude rather than the loneliness so often cited." The evidence for contentedness
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came from "glimpses of lighted interiors seen as I walked along city streets at night." Despite the snapshot-esque quality of the scene, it is actually no one particular window or moment Hopper peered into but rather a culmination of many different narratives he saw as he roamed New York City.
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In addition to the main theme of alienation, a variety of other factors are highlighted in Hopper's work. Hopper himself describes it as, “you know, there are many thoughts, many impulses that go into a picture, not just one". Some scholars have asserted that Hopper’s clearly defined shapes and
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furthers the likeness between them. Likewise, the men in both paintings wear black suits without the jacket. Beyond the physical similarities of the two couples, the notion of physical closeness yet complete alienation ties the two works together.
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comes from Hopper’s own notion that a work of art is an expression of the creator’s "inner life". According to his wife Jo Hopper, he loved his inner life to the point that he could "get on fine without the interruption from other humans."
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135:. The painting is said to have been inspired by the glimpses of lighted interiors seen by the artist near the district where he lived in
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A print of this same work is seen in King’s YouTube reading of an excerpt from a story in his collection “You Like It Darker”
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one another. While these estranged pairs appear in many of Hopper’s works, art historian Joseph
Stanton suggests that
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that portrays two individuals in a New York City flat. It is held in the collection of the
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American
Silences: The Realism of James Agee, Walker Evans, and Edward Hopper
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In
Sunlight or In Shadow: Stories Inspired by the Paintings of Edward Hopper
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In
Sunlight or In Shadow: Stories Inspired by the Paintings of Edward Hopper
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Koob, Pamela N. "States of Being: Edward Hopper and
Symbolist Aesthetics."
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Stanton, Joseph. "On Edge: Edward Hopper's
Narrative Stillness."
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Nochlin, Linda. "Edward Hopper and the
Imagery of Alienation."
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73.66 cm (29.00 in) Ă— 93.03 cm (36.63 in)
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Hopper’s artistic process. He admitted the inspiration for
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personal reflection, personal essay, or argumentative essay
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is a 1932 oil-on-canvas painting by the American artist
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532:. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. 1985.
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Gillies, Jean. "The Timeless Space of Edward Hopper."
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504:. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art. 1995.
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190:The painting inspired a 2016 short story by
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324:Edward Hopper and the Imagery of Alienation
198:". The story was collected in the 016 book
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813:Edward Hopper Birthplace and Boyhood Home
65:Learn how and when to remove this message
525:77, no. 1/2 (Spring/Summer 1994): 21-40.
523:Soundings: An Interdisciplinary Journal
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603:Coast Guard Station, Two Lights, Maine
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509:Edward Hopper: An Intimate Biography
349:Edward Hopper: An Intimate Biography
502:Edward Hopper: A Catalogue Raisonné
311:The Timeless Space of Edward Hopper
462:. Pegasus Books. pp. 99–102.
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518:41, no. 2 (June 1981): 136-141.
215:List of works by Edward Hopper
16:1932 painting by Edward Hopper
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497:18, no. 3 (Fall 2004): 52-77.
287:Ward, American Silences, 171.
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856:Paintings by Edward Hopper
490:31, no. 4 (1972): 404-12.
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651:East Wind Over Weehawken
511:. New York: Knopf. 1995.
235:"Sheldon Museum of Art"
755:Office in a Small City
587:Girl at Sewing Machine
45:by rewriting it in an
771:Second Story Sunlight
667:White River at Sharon
619:Manhattan Bridge Loop
595:House by the Railroad
133:Sheldon Museum of Art
787:Sun in an Empty Room
635:Early Sunday Morning
276:A Catalogue Raisonné
263:A Catalogue Raisonné
747:Hotel by a Railroad
659:Macomb's Dam Bridge
456:(6 December 2016).
434:on December 8, 2016
178:Hotel by a Railroad
186:In popular culture
47:encyclopedic style
34:is written like a
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469:978-1-68177-288-2
298:American Silences
137:Washington Square
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113:edit on Wikidata
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436:. Retrieved
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715:Hotel Lobby
516:Art Journal
488:Art Journal
438:February 5,
422:Playboy.com
845:Categories
707:Nighthawks
481:References
278:, 220-221.
265:, 220-221.
170:In context
102:Dimensions
55:April 2018
731:High Noon
627:Chop Suey
574:Paintings
398:Stanton,
385:Nochlin,
372:Stanton,
322:Nochlin,
309:Gillies,
415:(2016).
209:See also
822:Related
806:Museums
611:Automat
400:On Edge
374:On Edge
347:Levin,
274:Levin,
261:Levin,
41:Please
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296:Ward,
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221:Notes
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97:1932
94:Year
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
