Edward Hopper and Food
Over the long weekend I met my family in Chicago, and I will be blogging about the food in the days to come. While in Chicago I had the opportunity to visit the fabulous Art Institute, which was having an Edward Hopper exhibit. In addition to “Nighthawks,” his most well-known work (which is even better in person), I was struck by a few other paintings which capture the mood of restaurants perfectly.
“Nighthawks” brings us into the world of lonely late-night diners, but a few other paintings elicit much different feelings.
The first, “Chop Suey,” I was already familiar with as my college roommate had a print of it hanging in our room. It’s a great painting and I was happy to be able to see it in person. Despite the bright colors and surfeit of light in “Chop Suey,” there is an undercurrent of tension and sensuality that is missing from the darker “Nighthawks.”
“The New York Restaurant” is a painting I was not familiar with, and the reproduction here doesn’t really do it justice. It so perfectly evokes a moment in time and place that I was dumbstruck for a few moments. The excitment and energy in the painting is a thing to behold.
“Tables for Ladies” reminds me of Balthazar, and the ideal of French restaurants from the 1930’s. Hopper obviously had a great affinity for the restaurant world, and it comes through spectacularly in his art.Posted by Howard
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