Adobes and Shed, New Mexico 1925

Edward Hopper painted “Adobes and Shed, New Mexico” with watercolor, and you can tell, right? How he lets the paint do its thing, flow and settle into these simple shapes. It's artmaking as a kind of collaboration with the medium itself. I love how Hopper captures the light in this piece, so clear and dry, especially how it hits the side of the shed, and casts this long, purple shadow. The brushstrokes are loose and transparent, like he’s trying to capture a feeling more than a perfect image. Look at the way he suggests the texture of the adobe walls, almost scribbling the paint on, and notice how the colors bleed into each other – that’s the watercolor at work, doing its own thing. You see this looseness also in the work of John Marin, especially in his cityscapes. It’s like Hopper is saying, "Here’s a glimpse, a moment, a feeling. Take it or leave it." And, for me, that's what makes it so compelling. It's about leaving space for us to find our own story.