#PeopleRoundTheCorner

  I guess you wouldn't be familiar with the way they experienced paint (as far as you're not into modern art or simply into Art). First, let's take a look at the trend. Hopper, as he likes to be called belongs to the realism trend, he also likes to represent some American life-scenes which are quite realistic. As a matter of fact, Hopper was used to play with light and dark and was also into individualism (which involves the fear of what and who we don't know as well as loneliness). Also, it is known that he was inspired by the Freud's theory thus psychology has a great impact on Hopper's work.
The second trend that we have to make out is the Impressionism, that James Whistler is a part of (and mainly inspired by if you want my opinion) for he has painted a lot of landscapes. Also, these landscapes belong to Tonalism, which are landscapes that are painted with mist or later with neutral hues. Whistler was against sentimentality and moral allusion in painting.
  What you are about to see are paintings and prints, but I choose intentionally some night scenes because I enjoy the nocturnal universe and also to compare these pieces of art.

Let's move on the exhibiton now.

  It seems pretty much to me that this is a kind of harbour at night. There are some shapes, human shapes that are almost invisible. These shapes are walking and sitting on the promenade. If you can take a look in the background, and I know you can, you can see things like fireworks or maybe some gold coins falling from the sky. All there is to say about the colors is that they are quite dark and hot. I think that's quite enough for a basic description, so in the next paragraph I'm going to tell you what I feel and more importantly the interpretation that I have to establish toward this painting.

  I personally think that ironically, a personal interpretation is actually the painter's ultimate objective after all. That's quite an interesting  painting because the viewer is invited to find his own deduction of the meaning and by the way, he (the viewer) is taking a part in the creative process itself. From there we are free to see whatever we want, what if the kind of fireworks are stars or galaxies and the shapes are the audience of this wonderful show that the nature is giving them? Also, it can be sparks from a blazing campfire, it can really be whatever you want that's why  I like this painting. Moreover it is known that Whistler saw his paintings as musical composition, but here is the thing, for him it was music but illustrated. He explained himself that the nature is full of elements, shapes as well as a keyboard has notes of all music. An artist is meant  to pick the right note for the result to be beautiful. If you want to know what I see, I'll tell you: I actually see  many things, an explosion of light in the darkness like a volcano, the climax of industry, and of course as I am a fantasy-fan guy I first saw the explosion Of Mount Doom at the time the ring was dropped in ( Tolkien's books). I don't care if I am out of my element here, but to my mind this is the symbol of hope against something bigger than us, like sometimes hope spread out at an unexpected moment.



Night Shadows (Edward Hopper, 1921, sheet)



  This Drawing is in black and white only, we're in the street at night again. It's a high angle shot that shows us the corner of a street somewhere maybe in New York. There is just one source of light, probably a street-lamp. However we all know what's drawing the attention in this drawing, that character in the middle with a hat, we don't know either it is a man or a woman. To my mind the pencil stroke is accurate enough to show the shadows or maybe the speed that the character as well as the viewer seems to have. That high angle shot may be the point of view of a bird  or something as such. I think it's time for the interpretations now so fasten your seat belts guys!

  Well, as a matter of fact (and as I said earlier in my introduction) Hopper often represents individualism, here we have a little character wandering in the street. When I first looked at this print I saw a film, the genre of the film noir, indeed, the universe of this print is quite dark it smells the guilty and the crime through the shadow and the lighting. I suppose that this human shape is not very ease at the very moment he is crossing the street, I mean he is reaching the corner, in other words: where everyone can be seen. It will be an error not to say that fear is everywhere in this print, the entire street is in the darkness, the chaos. The street itself is threatening to swallow that poor person. Also the path is blocked by a huge shadow that while doing nothing, has a particular effect: It's like the shadow wants to make that person stop or at least make him walk slower. I would be tempted to say that hopper wants to show us the danger of the street through the eyes of a bird( who is totally safe) in fact we are more like a voyeur waiting to see what's going to happen to that pedestrian. Now, what do I see? First, when in a painting or in the everyday life I am watching something that opposes a man or a little character (like this one) and a way bigger environment my mind is asking me: why do we oppose such things? And the answer is (to me) that we want to show the contrast between the might of the nature and the height of human being, which is quite little. It doesn't matter how big is the world, we have to experience it until every corner has been reached. I dare tell you that I see  the Hobbit here if you red that book you know what I'm talking about, a small person who leaves his comfortable hearth to experience the world even the darkest.

Well, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did, my interpretation is a bit too epic sometimes, it's just that my mind aim to see epic things even when there isn't any, for epicness is to my mind the most beautiful feeling I have ever experienced through literature, music and films so I'll tell you why, it's because epicness is what makes us much more than men or women, it's the transcendence of our conditions. So from now on listen to viking metal, read Tolkien and watch western movies and you'll be able to see these paintings as I do.


Dorian Goffin