The painting that defines Edward Hopper on a mainstream and iconic level is Nighthawks. This painting should be instantly recognizable, even if the name of the artist rang no bells for you when you read the previous sentence. Nighthawks is an iconic painting on many levels; if nothing else it is a modern equivalent to Rodin’s famous sculpture in that you cannot help but to externalize your own commentary onto the piece of art. The Thinker causes the viewer to wonder what exactly the man is thinking about. Likewise, Nighthawks can cause the viewer to wonder in no particular order: what brought these people together? is the couple on a date? why is the one guy alone? why does the couple look disinterested in one another? And so on and so forth.
What most people miss about Nighthawks, however, is that Hopper chose to not show the entrance of Phillies (the name of the diner). In a way, these patrons (and employee) look to be either trapped inside of this place, or escaping from their own lives—depending on how you want to look at it. I bring up this decision by Hopper to subtract a crucial perspective element because in Rooms By The Sea his perspective element with regards to an entrance or main door is exaggerated.
In the house that exists in this painting, if you were to walk out the front door it would appear that you would fall into the sea outside.
Obviously, this perspective from within this house could just be visual slight of hand—i.e.–this house lays parallel with the beach and, thus, when looked at from within at a certain angle the beach becomes invisible and all that you see is the ocean. But still, those odds seem slight as the way that Hopper has painted this picture seems to indicate that the body of water is literally right outside the house and that there is no ladder or steps leading to it.
As for the interior of the house, from what Hopper is showing us, it appears to be kind of drab: a single picture hanging on a wall, white walls, white door, green carpeting, a dresser, a couch. Rooms By The Sea showcases two of Hopper’s greatest strengths: perspective and light. The focus of this painting, unsexy as it is, is a white wall and the sunlight coming in through a door. His sense of artistic geometry here is subtle, as you have the aforementioned focal elements set alongside a beautiful horizon line of sky and deep blue in the distance. The blues don’t account for much of the whole of this piece but the space that they occupy makes for a terrific compliment to the reds and browns of the couch and dresser and the deep green of the carpet that sit on the opposite side of the painting.
It would be understandable for some to see this painting as being emblematic of a kind of low-level depression. Plain walls, no signs of bustling life, and a front door that could possibly lead you to your demise has a certain sad quality to it. And, to be sure, Edward Hopper was a master of painting scenes and people that could project a kind of sadness about it that is subtle and beautiful and thought-provoking. But to me Rooms By The Sea is something that is both surreal (I believe that Hopper’s placement of the water was meant to be exaggerated) and hopeful—the main blank wall in the foreground being something that will eventually be colored and adorned with framed pictures and art, and become welcoming.
Rooms By The Sea is a great example of clean and simple design. While some may look at this piece and think that it is too bare and too minimal, and that the interior of this house should be more colorful and alive, I ask you to keep this in mind: if Hopper had decided to adorn these rooms with visually pleasing colors and decor, this piece would be boring. By having a bland focus couched by lively colors Hopper, in a way, is asking you fill in the blanks. Or to put it another way, he wants to know what you think of the rooms—what type of person/people would live here? are they young or are they old?… This is what great art should do, it should make you ask questions.
And while Rooms By The Sea will never be confused with Nighthawks it does show how supremely talented Edward Hopper was, both in terms of design and an ability to create environment (whenever I look at this painting I feel like I know exactly how that house and the water outside of it should smell).
by Edward Hopper
Oil on canvas
1951