Contemplation on Canvas: Edward Hopper, Introvert
Do the paintings of Edward Hopper depict the essence of introversion? Some say yes; I say not really.
American painter Edward Hopper (1882-1967) was unquestionably an introvert. His wife Jo described him as “so slow, so silent, famed for his indifference to lapses in conversation… He could get on fine without the interruption from other humans.” The author John Dos Passos, who periodically hosted the Hoppers for dinner, said, “Often I felt that Hopper was on the verge of saying something. But he never did.”
A 1929 Vanity Fair article described the artist as “looking like a professor of higher mathematics in an out-of-town college” – that is, remote and esoteric. In a video profile I found online, taciturn Hopper gave his PBS interviewer mainly short, equivocal answers. His manner was guarded, solemn, almost lugubrious, without much eye contact, a far cry from the enthusiasm of someone eager to explain himself and be understood.
According to Hopper, “Great art is the outward expression of an inner life in the artist, and this inner life will result in his personal vision of the world.” Thus it’s fair to see the isolation, melancholy and detached contemplation of the scenes in his paintings as a reflection of a solitary mindset and an attitude of separateness.
For instance, “Nighthawks” shows a late-night diner viewed from the outside, lit up amidst a deserted urban neighborhood. Although a man and woman are seated together at the counter and a server seems to be bending to get them something, another customer faces away from them, compounding the painting’s mood of insulation and disconnection.
Likewise, in “Gas,” a lone attendant stands dwarfed by three iconic Mobil fuel pumps at sunset alongside a road going nowhere. Its restrained composition evokes reflection, nostalgia and quiet introspection in the viewer.
In other works, such as “Early Sunday Morning” and “Rooms by the Sea,” Hopper infused uninhabited buildings and rooms with stark undertones of stillness and suspense. No wonder Hopper’s “House by the Railroad” served as a source for the creepy Bates homestead in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho.”
By depicting mundane moments, eliminating peripheral details and giving rigorous attention to the properties of light, Edward Hopper painted scenes of loneliness and desolation that continue to haunt art lovers and the general public. Clearly they expressed Hopper’s introverted take on life, but are they emblematic of introversion in general? I don’t think so.
Remember that introverts appreciate solitude but are not necessarily isolated, alienated, troubled or dour. Hopper’s artistic style encourages a certain interpretation of his characters’ existence, a shading that is not inevitable or generalizable. Introverts join in wholeheartedly, if selectively, on social life, particularly when it comes to folks or hobbies that we enjoy.
Remember also that many paintings containing a solitary human figure have quite a different emotional tone than Hopper’s works. For example, Mary Cassatt’s “Young Girl Reading,” which Stillpoint Arts Quarterly chose to illustrate an essay of mine, conveys absorption and warmth rather than disconnection. Similarly, Johannes Vermeer’s “The Milkmaid” shows a young woman at work alone with wistful concentration, not someone lost, detached or without purpose.
His artistic skills and ability to cast an enigmatic spell justly place Edward Hopper in the top ranks of American painters. We can admire his creations while not identifying them as typifying a certain personality.
Recent essays by Marcia
“Reaching Back” in Stillpoint Arts Quarterly
“A Key Connection with My Father – Found, Lost and Reinterpreted” in The Bookends Review