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In Sunlight or In Shadow: Stories Inspired by the Paintings of Edward Hopper by Lawrence Block

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Edward Hopper: The Art and The Artist by Gail Levin

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Don Romero

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Edward Hopper is no stranger to depicting scenes of isolation or loneliness, even when there is more than one person in the picture.

His 1942 painting Nighthawks is probably the most well- known example of this. He is also known for seemingly ambiguous paintings that almost beg for stories to be written about them. (This was actually done, see: In Sunlight or In Shadow: Stories Inspired by the Paintings of Edward Hopper). 

Hopper spent much of his life in New York City, summering at his house in Cape Cod once he became successful enough to afford another home. (It also didn’t hurt that he and his wife, Jo, received an inheritance from her uncle). It’s therefore not a huge surprise that he painted a lot of city and urban landscapes. However, when Hopper painted them, you might think that the city had been emptied out; he rarely put more than two or three people in a scene, and those people usually seem disconnected from each other. In one of the very few paintings that appear to show people talking, Conference at Night,  the participants still have their mouths closed. 

About his inspiration for Room in New York, Hopper stated, “It was suggested by glimpses of lighted interiors seen as I walked along the city streets at night, probably near the district where I live, although it's no particular street or house, but it is rather a synthesis of many impressions.” New York has no shortage of apartment and hotel rooms to look into and see what’s going on, if one doesn't mind being a bit creepy and voyeuristic, anyway.

We don’t know if Hopper was intentionally voyeuristic or not, but he definitely saw a lot of rooms while walking through the city. Some of these were regular apartments, others were kind of hybrid apartment/hotels, some of which would have been within sight of his own apartment and studio at 3 Washington Square North in Manhattan, where he lived and worked for fifty years. These were similar to residential hotels today, but much more middle-class leaning; some had amenities found in hotels, such as doormen and maid services, and some had sitting rooms with a piano, like the one in Hopper’s painting. In 2019, if one was so inclined, you could even sleep in a room from one of Hopper’s paintings, a reproduction of Western Motel, that the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts assembled.

Much like his Office at Night, it’s quite probable that Jo (an artist herself) was the model, or at the very least, the inspiration, for the woman at the piano in this piece. Josephine Hopper (who was also Edward’s manager), modeled for many of his paintings, including the nudes. As his manager, she also took it upon herself to maintain records of all his works, with descriptions, dates, purchaser, price, etc., in ledgers that are now part of the collection at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

The Whitney Museum opened in 1931, and held their first Biennial exhibition in 1932; Room in New York, painted that same year, was a part of this exhibition. (Back then, it was an “annual” exhibition, it didn’t become a biennial until 1973.) The painting probably posed the same questions to viewers then as it does today. Fortunately for us, there are really no wrong answers.  Just let your imagination do the work to fill in the blanks.

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Here is what Wikipedia says about Room in New York

Room in New York is a 1932 oil-on-canvas painting by the American artist Edward Hopper that portrays two individuals in a New York City flat. It is held in the collection of the Sheldon Museum of Art. 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 Washington Square.

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Comments (3)

Elinorah
2 years ago

When I first saw this painting, it reminded me of the story of a boy who had grown in the woods and knew no other human being. So when he was rescued and placed into society, everyone thought he had been lonely that entire time and this was going to be his great chance to be surrounded by people and make friends. Sadly, when he was asked how he felt about the humans around him, he answered "I have never been lonelier than I am now, as I am surrounded by strangers." That story made me realize that loneliness is not about being alone, it's about feeling alone even when there are people around. This feeling generally comes when we are unable to relate to the people around us and in this painting, the artist did an amazing job capturing that feeling.
The man and women in the painting, whom I will assume to be husband and wife seem to each be in their own worlds despite their being in the same room. The woman is inclined towards the piano, her fingers placed on it as if she is simply using it as a distraction from her loneliness instead of playing it with passion; the man, on the other hand, is focused on reading the paper, so much so that he does not notice his wife on the other side of the room, her posture practically begging for attention.
when Hopper decided to paint this, he had been inspired by an all-too-common occurrence in New York, which was the visible tension at night between people who lived in the same household. Because everyone is always so busy in New York, coming home at night should have normally been the moment every person was looking forward to, as they would be able to talk about their day with eh ones they loved. However, for many Newyorkers, it was yet another uphill battle since they would generally come home to an uncaring partner, one that would show a blatant lack of interest in them and what they would have to say, which is no one's dream.
Ironically, the painting almost reminded me of early quarantine times in which many couples realized that they knew very little about each other and could barely make conversation with each other. This painting would probably be an accurate reflection of what happened then, therefore showing how relevant it is to this day.

Isaac
2 years ago

This painting was so awesome to stumble across. The artist Edward Hopper said this was inspired by when he lived in Washington Square and he saw glimpses of lighted interiors. In the city there is so many windows and I think that it is very cool that he painted this from his inspiration. It is very cool to see so many people doing their own different thing in the city. Obviously everyone lives different lives, but it was cool to get a glimpse into this person's life in the painting. For me the colors are so fitting. It looks like this was taken place sometime in the 1900's and it looks like the subject of this painting is a wealthy and young couple. She is seen playing the piano while he sits and reads the paper. It looks like this is composed in the nighttime, possibly after they had just gotten home from work, judging by their fancy outfits. I like how the artist painted some white by the window. That did a good job showing the light from their room going out into the night. Hopper did a very good job with the colors and the placement of everything. This is an awesome piece of work!

Gracia
2 years ago

I really like this painting because I feel I could make up a story about the people sitting in this room in New York. I love that the subjects are doing such everyday tasks in such a beautiful painting. I like the composition of this painting. The artist did a good job of making the focus be on the middle of the painting and the two subjects. I think the darker colors on the window and on the outside contrasts well against the warm glow of the light inside the home. This represents the importance of having a home as a safe space against the world. I also really like the texture that comes from this work being an oil painting.