Anthony Ropp 6/06/2017

Edward Hopper

When we studied some paintings of Edward Hopper, I was particularly impressed by the
tension that emerge of his art. Thats why I would like to write about this painter and two of his
paintings : Nighthawks (1942) and Morning sun (1961).

Edward Hopper is an American naturalist painter, born in 1882 and died in 1967, whose
paintings often represents the everyday life of the middle classes.

Nighthawks is the most famous painting of Edward Hopper. It represents a bar (Phillies) in a
dark and empty street at night. Throw the large window of the bar, we can distinguish four people who
are frozen in their position : a waiter behind the counter, a couple (probably a man with a prostitute)
and the back of a mysterious man with a hat who could be a gangster. Each character seems to be
lonely and deep in its own thoughts : although they are four in the room, the room as well as the street
are empty. The bar is hermetic to the outside world : there is no issue, the characters are prisoners of
their human condition (loneliness, boredom, melancholia).

In Morning sun, Hopper represents a woman sat on his bed, looking throw the window. We
can observe some building or manufacture throw the window but the woman, actually Hoppers
woman, turns her eyes to the sun. As she is dazzled by the bright sunlight, her face expression is
neutral, so its hard to imagine her feeling. Id would bet she is in a melancholic mood. The room is
empty, it seems to be very silent and quiet. The white and blue colour emphasize this feeling emptiness
and boredom. To my mind, the woman is asking herself existentialist questions after her sleep and
doesnt find any answer. The sunlight illuminating the pure woman contrasts with the building outside
: a same conflict between nature and the modern world can be found in People in the sun. This second
painting of Hopper represents people sat on sun loungers in the sunlight. Each seems to be lonely and
bored as if they were on therapy. They are facing a beautiful landscape with mountains but they dont
care. In this painting, the conflict between nature and modernity emerges of the distance that the
characters are keeping to nature. In Morning sun as well as in People in the sun, Hopper expresses the
loneliness and the emptiness of the human being.

I find Hoppers paintings fascinating. They combine loneliness and boredom of the human
condition (every human is an alien for me) with a feeling of an extreme intensity driven by the
emptiness in the paintings. Edward Hoppers art is very efficient to share the melancholia inherent in
the human condition.

Nighthawks, 1942 Morning sun, 1961