Summertime

Edward Hopper is one of my favorite painters. Nobody like him was able to catch the loneliness and melancholia of the modern world.

The artist lived in New York City his entire adult life. He depicted the city not as a teeming metropolis, but as the home of isolated individuals, like this woman paused on her front steps on a hot summer day. In this painting from 1943, Hopper captured the economic resurgence driven by wartime activities, the emerging sense of expectation across the United States, and the evolving liberal attitudes among the youth. The new dress of the woman symbolizes the nation's burgeoning prosperity, marking a departure from the hardships of the Great Depression.

It looks like she is waiting ... but for whom? Maybe just for the upcoming adventures of the day?

P.S. Before painting his masterpieces, Edward Hopper usually prepared sketches. Have you ever seen them? These Hopper's drawings will blow your mind! One of them was made for the painting we present today.  :)  If you want to get to know his art a bit more, check out these haunting (and nostalgic) scenes from theaters and cinemas that Hopper loved to paint so much! 

P.P.S. Do you know who else liked to convey melancholia and loneliness of the modern world in his art? Gustave Caillebotte! He was known for his early interest in photography as an art form, which impacted his style greatly. If you'd like to learn more about this Urban Impressionist, be sure to check out our French Impressionism Mega Online Course.  :)