Artist: Edward Hopper
Ed's Nighthawks (1942) is an icon of American culture. People say the customers look isolated, and maybe they are from the rest of the city, but the man and woman are sitting next to each other. Because Nighthawks is so familiar, many have parodied or put their own spin on it. Here are a few examples. Of course, as a barista for Starbucks, I laughed at this one.
This is Window Shopping (1989) by Michael Bedard, who's really into ducks.
Ah, Homer's buttcrack. Edward would be so proud.
I can't recall where I got this one, or who did it. I apologize to the artist, whoever he/she is..jpg)
This, Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Gottfried Helnwein, is perhaps the most popular take-off. It features Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, and Humphrey Bogart.
I never really looked at the rest of Hopper's work until now, but it's really beautiful. I'll probably blog about him again on a future Friday Art. Here's a great slide show of his stuff.
Labels: Art
posted by Kate Willoughby at 9/07/2007
7 Comments:
My husband loves Hopper. I can't get into his work, so hubby's dragging me to the show at the Nat'l Gallery before it closes (link). Maybe I'll change my mind when I see his work in person. There's a distance (and sadness) to his paintings that holds me at bay, if that makes sense. Or maybe this was his intention, to make the viewer feel like an outsider looking in.
Laura! Thanks so much for the link. I downloaded the iPod podcast and learned a lot. Yes, a lot of that work portrays people who seem sad, or at least pensive. The slideshow paintings didn't evoke as much depression for me.
Kate, what an interesting blog post - THANKS - I love Hopper's work. (also like Bedard's and Helnwein)
I've seen the one with The Simpsons.
Hopper was a great artist, and the old saying is that "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery".
I became really fond of Hopper paintings after I did a writing prompt where chose one of three of his paintings (Chop Suey, this one, and one other) and write a story around it.
Typical me, I wrote an almost-romance one about Chop Suey. Have you ever noticed the couple in the dark corner, and the flash of red- her hat as she leans in?
I paintings are great because (if their done well) they are like a scene in a story.
We finally went to the show and was blown away. Especially his early work. It's always great to see the pieces in person.
Oops... *were* blown away. LOL
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