Final Project, Extra, Hopper - Grace Weber

As a visual art student, I have spent a lot of time analyzing art pieces. In nearly all of my art classes, we have taken some time to turn on the projector, pull down the screen, hit the lights, and examine famous pieces relevant to our current focus. During these classes, we will usually discuss how the artist works with color, light, composition, and any conceptual ideas we think the artist is trying to portray. I often wonder, however, as I listen to one of my classmates explain her reasoning for why she thinks the purple flower vase in the back of the painting represents the artist’s secret double gay life, whether or not these revered artists were really meaning to have their works analyzed so deeply. Do we over-analyze art to a point where we sometimes lose the beautiful simplicity of their being, or are we simply drawing our own conceptual ideas out of the work, allowing us to connect with it in a more personal way?
I remember the day when Edward Hopper’s paintings came onto the screen. Hopper, one of the most famous American realist painters of 1900’s, began his painting career at the New York School of Art, studying there from 1901-1906. He continued painting in New York until his death in his home on Washington Square in 1967. His style of painting seems to emanate from his own personality, which according to friends was one of solitude and deep inwardness. Besides being acclaimed for representing the almost “heroic plainness of American life” (Lyons, 9), his paintings are most well known for the introspective and often lonely moods they create. In our class that day, we looked at the ways in which Hopper created these moods in his paintings, through his dramatic use of color, light, and shadows. We discussed how his use of bright, almost electric green in his Room in New York, 1932 helps to create a mood of tension between the couple featured in the painting, without making the two people seem obviously upset or angry themselves. We continued to analyze the painting, discussing such things as the compositional choice to put the door in between the couple, creating more separation and thus tension between the two.
And yet as we took apart this Hopper painting, again I couldn’t help but think that maybe we were analyzing the piece too deeply. That perhaps Hopper, an artist known for his plainness and his simplistic approaches to paintings, was only trying to portray a scene, not set up secret symbols within the piece.
One of my favorite art professors once said, “A brilliant artist can leave their piece open for interpretation, allowing the critique to pull themes and ideas from it that the artist may have never intended.” I was a little confused when I first heard this statement, unsure of what exactly he meant. But then, he applied the idea to music and poetry, my first loves. He explained that many times a poet may write a poem with a specific idea in mind, but when that idea is able to resonate differently and personally in the souls of each individual, then it is real art. I thought about certain songs that I love, songs with poetry that allows me to visualize my own story as the melody flows through my body. I love being able to connect with music and poetry on a personal level, I love being able to analyze the meanings in my own way, so why can’t the same feelings be true for analyzing visual art?
When I think about Hopper’s paintings, leaving space open for interpretation is exactly what he intended to do. The deeper I examined my questions about over-analyzing the work, I realized that maybe Hopper wanted his audience to do that, to search within his pieces and find their own personal meaning and connection. Of course, I do think he intends to set up a specific mood as well through his obvious theatrical color and light choices, and I think he may even have made certain compositional choices to delicately lead the viewer to a certain conclusion. His strongest aspect of his artistry, however, was his ability to create these ambiguous and simple, yet incredibly deep and introspective scenes in his work. He doesn’t just paint a realist scene, though, for if that was all it was it would not have the ability to resonate so differently in each individual’s soul. Instead, he sets up a story, then allows the viewer to enter in and experience the painting for themselves. He lets you stand in the light or the shadow, find the happy or the sad. Most of all, he lets you create your own narrative.
I admire Hopper for his ability to create subtle, but not definite stories in his work. Even in his Sun in an Empty Room painting, one cannot help but wonder what happened in that room just before the moment he portrays and what will happen in it later? The room itself almost gains a personality. For me, the loneliness of the room almost makes me feel sympathetic towards it. An artist who can make you feel bad for an empty room, is powerful.
In my own art project, I attempted to emulate Hopper’s paintings by exploring my own abilities to create these indefinite but moody scenes and stories. I focused on relationships between people, as well as on the effect that light has on the mood of a painting. I tried to paint my subjects with as little expression as possible, and yet still create an undertone of deep thought within their bodies and faces. I wanted to make my relationships somewhat unclear, however still leaving space for deep interpretation, versus just creating a boring representation of a human being. Although an extremely difficult thing to master, I feel I made some progress in creating several “real” art pieces. I thank Edward Hopper for giving me the inspiration to pursue this project and I will to continue to explore how the elements of light, composition, and color can affect the mood and narratives of my paintings. I do think, however, that Hopper had a special gift, something that went far beyond light, composition, and color. This gift allowed him to paint with a unique passion that can only be described through a unique and inward feeling. I will forever walk through Hopper’s paintings, run my hands down the sides of his buildings, and create my own story.