Shop art print and framed art Rooms in New York by Edward Hopper

Edward Hopper and his illustrious "Rooms in New York"

Edward Hopper produced this painting in 1932, at the height of the Great Depression in the United States. At that time, although daily life was difficult for many Americans, Hopper managed to draw on social and economic themes that enriched his art.The piece shows a snapshot of urban life with its challenges, complexities and coping mechanisms.

Creative technique

In his works, Hopper used to combine several artistic techniques.For "Rooms in New York", he relied on meticulous preparatory drawings. These enabled him to strike a perfect balance between realism and a synthetic approach, which gives this painting such a special atmosphere, charged with solitude and incommunicability.

Work description

"Rooms in New York" consists of an interior scene depicting a New York living room, with two characters, a man and a woman. The room is simply furnished: a piano, on which the woman is leaning, a table, an armchair where the man is seated, a few decorative objects and windows looking out onto the street.

One of the most striking aspects of this work is the artificial light that bathes the scene, and plunges the window frame into darkness.This underlines the tranquility of the scene, but also the isolation of the characters in the urban night.Indeed, despite their physical proximity, they seem disinclined to communicate, as if they were each locked in their respective thoughts.

Hopper's color palette for this painting is relatively simple, composed mainly of black, yellow and red tones.The contrast between the light and dark areas makes the scene even more dramatic and accentuates this impression of isolation and melancholy.

A depiction of modern life

Through "Rooms in New York", Hopper wanted to show the reality of modern urban life, with its tensions, constraints and solitudes. The scene seems banal at first glance, like a simple slice of life for a New York couple, but behind this apparent simplicity lies a certain emotional complexity that echoes the concerns of society at the time.

Influence and posterity of "Rooms in New York"

"Rooms in New York" is today considered one of the iconic paintings of twentieth-century American art. It testifies to Edward Hopper's ability to transcribe human nature beyond mere appearances, and to offer a vision of contemporary life that is both realistic and poetic.

This artwork is a painting from the modern period. It belongs to the naturalism styles and realism styles.

« Rooms in New York » is kept at Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery - University of Nebraska, Lincoln, United States.

Find the full description of Rooms in New York by Edward Hopper on Wikipedia.