Quarto em Nova York, Estados Unidos (Room in New York) - Edward Hopper
Nova York - Estados Unidos
Sheldon Museum of Art, Lincoln, Nebraska, Estados Unidos
OST - 73x93 - 1932
Room in New York is a 1932 oil on canvas painting by Edward Hopper that
portrays two individuals in a New York City flat. It is currently 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.
The scene of a brightly lit room is contained within the dark
sill of a window. The stark framing makes the room the main focus, drawing the
eye and giving realness to the action of peeping into a space where the
subjects are unaware they are being watched. The genuineness of spying is a
product of Hopper’s artistic process. He admitted the inspiration for Room
in New York came from "glimpses of lighted interiors seen as I walked
along city streets at night." Despite the snapshot-esque quality of
the scene, it is actually no one particular window or moment Hopper peered into
but rather a culmination of many different narratives he saw as he roamed New
York City. The act of peering gives the viewer the sense that what is
being seen is wholly real and unfiltered; “the self-absorbed figures do not
know of his presence; otherwise, they would be embarrassed, startled, or
otherwise uncomfortable.” Thus, the narrative Hopper portrays is one of
unapologetic realness. The harsh lines and blocks of color that frame the
scene not only divide the space between viewer and subject but also divide
space within the room itself. Hopper places a door almost exactly center to
divide the work into two distinct halves horizontally, isolating the man and
the woman into their respective sides. While the man reads the newspaper, his
counterpart plays the piano with her back to him. Blocks of color delineate
space and suggest suggest a lack of movement. Art historian and scholar Jean
Gillies argues that the less details the viewer has to look at, the slower the
eye will move across the work. The idea comes from the notion that when viewing
a work of art, the eye jumps from detail to detail in order to perceive the
whole. By reducing the number of elements, Hopper creates a slow moving or even
still scene. Gilles argues the formal techniques function to give the subjects
a timeless quality as if they are frozen in that instant.
A majority of scholars focus on loneliness and alienation as
the theme of Hopper's work.
Art historian Pamela Koob points out that the "solitary
figures in Hopper’s paintings may well be evocations of such contented solitude
rather than the loneliness so often cited." The evidence for
contentedness comes from Hopper’s own notion that a work of art is an
expression of the creator’s “inner life” -- According to his wife Jo Hopper, he
loved his inner life to the point that he could “get on fine without the
interruption from other humans.”
In addition to the main theme of alienation, a variety of other
factors are highlighted in Hopper's work. Hopper himself describes it as, “you
know, there are many thoughts, many impulses that go into a picture, not just
one". Some scholars have asserted that Hopper’s clearly defined
shapes and figures might be a relic of his previous work in advertising. While
it was well known Hopper gave himself very little credit when talking about his
longtime work as a book and magazine illustrator, some of the formal qualities
seen in commercial work tend to appear in his oil paintings. Specifically,
art historian Linda Nochlin argues that Hopper still held on to "vestiges
of its figural conventions, its spatial shorthand, and its coy puritan stiffness
of contour." These rigid formalities in regard to shape are what Nochlin
argues gives Hopper’s work an undeniably American look.
The feeling of separation often connected to the New York City
flat is a running theme in Hopper’s work. In particular, Hopper’s pieces that
contain two main subjects cut deep to the idea of loneliness. Hopper’s couples
tend to be a man and woman in close proximity and yet completely oblivious to
one another. While these estranged pairs appear in many of Hopper’s works, art
historian Joseph Stanton suggests that Hotel by a Railroad might be something of
a companion piece to Room in New York. Stanton points out the couple by the
railroad might actually be the same couple in Room in New York, just three or
four decades older. In both works, the dresses the women wear are the same
color and the extremely dark hair and pale skin furthers the likeness between
them. Likewise, the men in both paintings wear black suits without the jacket.
Beyond the physical similarities of the two couples, the notion of physical
closeness yet complete alienation ties the two works together.
.jpg)
