The Long Leg, Edward Hopper
There’s just something about it that is peaceful and lonely, and bittersweet, like the end of summer. The colors are so smooth. I want to be on that boat, leaning against the tilt and feeling the wind, hearing the rush of water as I skim over the rippled surface.
This painting belongs to the Huntington Library Art Collection, and it will become a new postage stamp on August 24.
Those familiar with classic art might know Edward Hopper for his famous painting, “Nighthawks”.
Nighthawks, Edward Hopper
This was painted in 1942 and is part of the collection at the Art Institute of Chicago. I remember it as one of the first paintings discussed in my freshman year of college art history class.
“The viewer, drawn to the light shining from the interior, is shut out from the scene by a seamless wedge of glass, a characteristic of Art Deco design. Hopper’s understanding of the expressive possibilities of light playing upon the simplified shapes gives the painting its beauty. Fluorescent lights had just come into use in the early 1940s, and the eerie glow flooding the dark street corner may be attributed to this innovation. The moody contrast of light against dark and the air of menace inside has been linked to film noir, a movement in American cinema that featured stories of urban crime and moral corruption.” – from the website, www.edwardhopper.info
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