Edward Hopper: A Master of Isolation
Friday, September 10, 2021 at 8:00AM 
Edward Hopper - Tables for Ladies - 1930 - Oil on canvas - 48 1/4 × 60 1/4 in. (122.6 × 153 cm) - Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (click photo for larger image)No one captured the isolation of the individual within the modern world like Edward Hopper (1882-1967).
His imagery of figures within urban settings goes well beyond simply representing modern cityscapes. Hopper’s art exposes the underbelly of the human experience. So while his oeuvre officially falls within the rubric of Realism, it offers a far more evocative look at life between the World Wars—and the individual psyche.
By providing a minimum of action, stripping away almost any sign of life or mobility, and adding dramatic means of representation with striking lighting schemes in claustrophobic spaces, Hopper suggests something of the psychological inner life of his subjects.
“In Hopper’s Tables for Ladies [featured here] a waitress leans forward to adjust the vividly painted foods at the window as a couple sits quietly in the richly paneled and well-lit interior. A cashier attentively tends to business at her register. Though they appear weary and detached, these two women hold posts newly available to female city dwellers outside the home. The painting’s title alludes to a recent social innovation in which establishments advertised "tables for ladies" in order to welcome their newly mobile female customers, who, if seen dining alone in public previously, were assumed to be prostitutes.” (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
As the artist’s style matured Hopper applied his signature iconography to “isolated figures in public or private interiors, to sun-soaked architecture, silent streets, and coastal scenes with lighthouses”.
Dr. Jill will be delivering a single-session program on Edward Hopper, on Wednesday, November 3rd at 11 AM. Register HERE so you don’t miss this presentation.
You can also read more about Edward Hopper right HERE on What About Art?
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