Edward+Hopper

Edward Hopper Edward Hopper was born on July 22, 1882 in Nyack, New York and died on May 15, 1967 in New York, New York. Hopper painted common places of urban life, solitary figures, and masterpieces that evoke a sense of extreme loneliness and desolation. Hopper captured the character of the nation in the early twentieth century. (Priscilla)

[] Sunday //Sunday// is an oil canvas Hopper painted in 1926. During the same time //Sunday// was completed, America was experiencing the early effects of the Great Depression. The scene is set in a vacant street. In the foreground, a lonely, middle-aged man sits on the curb, smoking a cigar in the day time. Behind the man there are wooden buildings with darkened windows. The man seems remote and the colors set a depressed atmosphere. Who is he? Why is he sitting outside those buildings? What is he waiting for? //Sunday// is a visual presentation of the unfulfilled longing and disillusionment in the early state of the Great Depression. (Priscilla) []

House by The Railroad //House by The Railroad// was created in 1925. The painting expresses Hopper’s theme of the alienation of modern life. The focus of the piece is the Victorian mansion. Who lived in the house? Why is next to a railroad? What does it overlook? The light cast shadows on the house, which creates an atmosphere of sadness. The mansion was once a beautiful structure, but now it is an eyesore wrongly placed in an unwelcoming era. The railroad track symbolizes man’s progress towards urbanization, as it most likely replaced farmland that was once America’s culture. //House by The Railroad// symbolizes the loss felt when modern progress leaves a farming society behind. (Priscilla) []