Themes of loneliness, transience, and alienation permeate the haunting images of Edward Hopper. Though he resisted the label, Hopper was a premier practitioner of American Scene Painting-a Depression-era movement that
rejected modernism and other European influences, electing instead to render uniquely American subjects in a realist style.
Hotel Lobby presents an image of people who are both traveling and suspended in time. Nameless guests, they occupy a bleak and airless space; what they wait for is unknown. A clerk, nearly hidden in the shadows, observes
the scene. The composition's constricting geometry and harsh, raking light reinforce the disquieting mood of the carefully constructed setting. Hopper frequently attended Broadway plays, which he preferred to view from
the balcony, a predilection that may explain the scene's elevated and oddly theatrical vantage point.
Hopper, a successful commercial artist long before his paintings received critical acclaim, was keenly aware of European modernism, yet it had little impact on his work. As his biographer Lloyd Goodrich wrote: ""Hopper's
art from the first had been opposite to the general trends of modernism: instead of subjectivity, a new kind of objectivity; instead of abstraction, a purely representational art; instead of international influences,
an art based on American life."
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'Hotel Lobby' is a signature piece in Hopper's work, displaying his classic themes of alienation and brevity. The Hoppers traveled frequently, staying in many motels and hotels throughout his career. This is one of two
works in his catalog that depicts a hotel, the other being 'Hotel Window' (1955). It is also one of the two paintings that he created in 1952, both of which dealt with alienated couples. The older couple are believed
to represent Hopper and his wife, at that date in their 60s. The hotel guests have been described as being "both traveling and suspended in time," reflecting a stoic and dramatic feeling, reminiscent of the
film noir movies Hopper might have seen and the complex structure and feeling of works by Edgar Degas. The painting utilizes harsh light and rigid lines to create a "carefully constructed" uncomfortable environment.
The elevated and theatrical vantage point of the painting may be derived from Hopper's love of Broadway theatre which he often watched from the balcony.
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