Hopper's Room in Brooklyn

  Today's painting is Edward Hopper's:  Room in Brooklyn.  It is an oil on canvas and is part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, painted 1932.
   Hopper is one of my favorite American artists, and for the purpose of this writing, I want to put aside all I know, and just examine this image.
   The composition is amazing.  It is built on rectangles and lines. Framed by two white vertical lines, they are repeated in size by the brown window frames. The top is cemented with the shades, notice the two on the left and right are exactly the same, with the left one slightly lighter in color.   The top half is all window, with the horizontal brown lines dividing that space.   The exact middle, and all inside the window frame is the woman's head, the top of the far buildings and the flowers.   In the lower section, the base is the same basic color as the shades, with the rectangle of light pulling our attention down.
   So, what is this painting about?   Here our imagination can go wild.  What we know is that it seems to be a bright, sunny day and because we see a bit of the tops of the buildings across the street, we know we are not on a ground floor, maybe third floor, maybe more.  The flowers look fresh, the white vase pure.  But she is separated from them, secluded to the left side of the window, with her back to us.  Very dramatic!
    What do you think?  Who is this woman and where is she?  Is this her home, a hotel room, an office?  There is no motion, no sound, not even an open window or drapery.  Why are we allowed into this private space.  Please take a moment and send me your thoughts.  I am anxious to read what YOU think.                  Make Art a part of your life,  it's a beautiful thing to do!

Comments

  1. charguthApril 25, 2019 at 1:00 PM

    Hopper's paintings are always puzzling because of the information he leaves out. My mind wants to add some movement or noise; more details in the room or birds in the sky. I think the woman is reading, but where? Not an office, not a home. She is sitting in a rocking chair and formally dressed; maybe its a special living center, hence the fresh flowers. Always intriguing. I like him too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. JudithMarie5April 27, 2019 at 11:34 AM

    Hopper also remains one of my favorite artists. Given his birth year of 1882, this quiet painting was done at age 50 when he had years of illustration jobs behind him and had settled into the style we know him for. I see his natural reserve and I see the still scenes from the matinee movies he loved to attend. Knowing his attraction to light and shadows, I am attracted to these aspects of his work. including the serene unknown and the feeling the paintings evoke. Hopper said that “great art is the outward expression of the inner life of the artist.”

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wayne Thiebaud, Sunset Streets

Image
   In giving title to this landscape, California artist, Wayne Thiebaud not only provides the location, but also the time of day.  Knowing that Thiebaud is a California artist provides the last clue to guessing the probably location.  Smartly, The San Francisco Museum Of Modern Art purchased this painting for its permanent collection in 1986, a year after it was completed.  Sunset Streets is an oil on canvas measuring 48" x 35".      Wayne Thiebaud was born in 1920 and resides in California. He is one of several artists creating a distinct California aesthetic using heavy pigment and exaggerated color.   He is best known for his commonplace objects, figures, and landscapes. of which this is a perfect example.    The composition of this work is amazing.  Right down the center, at a slight tilt is this blue-black stripe, K shape, beginning with a heavy base and capped with a large triangle of sorts.  The painting is...
Read more

Jimmy Baker, "Double Tillman"

Image
   It has been a while since we have looked at a contemporary artist and new work, and this particular image by Jimmy Baker is somewhat different from others of his.   At first glance our painting for this week appears to be a landscape, maybe a setting or rising sun.  Our attention is drawn to the circle just slightly above middle center, and the arches above and swirls of color high light it.  Look at the lower half, the earth.  The light has highlighted rocks or wood chips, but we are unable to distinguish more.   I think this painting allows us to determine for ourselves what to make of it.   Is this a dying earth, or one recovering from tragedy?         Jimmy Baker (1980-) is from Ohio.  He was born here, received his education in Ohio, and is presently and associate professor at the Art Academy of Cincinnati.  His work has achieved critical acclaim with solo exhibitions in Europe and across t...
Read more

Childe Hassam "The Avenue in Rain"

Image
    I probably should have saved this for the 4th of July, but that is a little far off and this work is among Childe Hassam's finest.      I have known of Childe Hassam (1859 - 1935) for a very long time, but only recently did Wikimedia straighten me out about the correct way to pronounce his first name.  It seems the "e" is silent; and his last name is pronounced as written, with two syllables.        From what I have read, Hassam was a pretty sharp guy, and possibly a little  arrogant.  He created 3,000 some works of art in his career and lived his entire adult life on the proceeds of their sale.  This is quite remarkable.  Most artists, (at least before 1930) had to supplement their income by teaching, commissioned portraits or careers outside the art field.  But Hassam figured out not only how to market his work, but also what subjects would be popular.  Timing is always a big issue, and he wa...
Read more