Artist Edward Hopper's Lost America

Automats, Barber Shops, Train Travel and Movie Palaces

Nov 15, 2009 Meg Nola

Known for his haunting landscapes and unusual glimpses into American lives, Edward Hopper's work also chronicled bygone scenes.

Painter of such works as the iconic Nighthawks, Edward Hopper (1882-1967) was undoubtedly one of America’s premier artists. Hopper’s realistic sensibilities combined with expert use of light and shadow gave his art a technical finesse, while his own detachment from society added an existential and isolated quality.

When Hopper was creating his works, he was painting from life and the 20th century scenes around him. The passing of time, however, and the many technological and social changes leading up to the 21st century have Hopper‘s America looking quite different than the America of present day.

Automat

Hopper’s Automat was completed in 1927. Automats were inexpensive restaurants wherein people served themselves by paying for selected items with coins obtained from a central cashier. There were eat-in tables and despite the automated nature of things, the food was substantial and of good quality. The first American automat debuted in 1902, while the last remained open in New York until 1991, although reportedly by that point the whole concept and its offerings had been languishing for years.

When Hopper painted his Automat portrait, automats were thriving and frequented by all classes of society. Hopper no doubt used this specific setting to show a woman alone at an odd hour, seemingly with troubles on her mind. She hardly notices the coffee she drinks and the scene's night-darkened windows give a sense of further isolation.

Beyond Hopper’s mysterious female, Automat is intriguing in how it preserves the details of a lost American venue. Though the woman is at what was then considered to be a "fast-food" restaurant, the table is made of marble, while she is drinking from an actual china cup and saucer and not the predominantly disposable versions which came into use decades later. A pedestal bowl of fruit is by the window, and the floor and all surrounding areas appear neat and clean.

Barber Shop

Hopper’s 1931 Barber Shop recalls an era when—aside from the manicure girl—the barbershop was an exclusively male-dominated place. Unisex salons were nowhere to be found. A man’s hair was cut regularly and uniformly, and because few men grew beards then, shaving was a frequent routine. Barbers wore white tunic uniforms and treated their male customers with respect and formality.

The barbershop was also a networking center for businessmen, particularly hotel barbershops, which tended to be the most lavish. There were face massages, treatments for baldness, nail buffing and trimming, and shoe shines. Hopper’s Barber Shop offers a visual counterpart to Sinclair Lewis’ 1922 novel Babbitt, which details the "rich and delicate" luxury of the Pompeian Barber Shop and its steaming hot towels, fawning staff, and "hundreds of tonics, amber and ruby and emerald."

Compartment C, Car 293

Hopper’s 1938 Compartment C, Car 293 hearkens back to a time when train travel was more prevalent than flying by plane. Even longer trips were made by rail, with such lines as the 20th Century, the California Zephyr and the Super Chief speeding across hundreds of miles.

Compartment C, Car 293 focuses on another solitary female who skims through a magazine with no pictures or lettering on its pages. Again through his use of less equaling more, Hopper’s lack of facial detail allows us to guess what emotions this woman might be experiencing as she heads to or from someplace. What is also noteworthy today is the woman’s armchair-like seat, the nearby wall lamp fixture and the train’s general sense of spaciousness. The landscape through the window is appealing as well, with a bridge spanning over a river and perhaps a setting or rising sun.

New York Movie

A reported film fan, Hopper was no stranger to the American movie palaces of the early through mid-20th century. At that point, television had not yet eclipsed the cinema, and most urban areas were full of large and richly decorated movie theaters.

Hopper used a movie theater backdrop in his 1937 The Sheridan Theatre, and in his 1939 New York Movie. In the latter painting, a female usher in a stylish uniform waits for the show to be over. Like most of Hopper’s females, she appears worried or lost in thought. The carpet beneath her high-heeled feet is thickly patterned, and the theater has ornate lighting and red plush seats. A glimpse of the black and white screening can be also seen, since most films were not yet made in Technicolor. Various American movie palaces have now been turned into art house film venues or places where upscale entertainment can be enjoyed, but sadly, many others were torn down or remain vacant and abandoned to this day.

Sources

Edward Hopper — Karal Ann Marling (Rizzoli Art Series)
Babbitt — Sinclair Lewis (Dover Thrift Editions, 2003)

The copyright of the article Artist Edward Hopper's Lost America in Modern Art History is owned by Meg Nola. Permission to republish Artist Edward Hopper's Lost America in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.