Lighthouse HIll 1927

Edward Hopper made "Lighthouse Hill" with oil on canvas. Hopper’s paintings always get me thinking about this feeling of being a little separate from the world, even when you’re standing right in it. Look at the way the cool blues of the sky meet the stark whites of the buildings, it's like a meeting of quiet contrasts, or opposing forces. I want to zoom in on that line of dark green where the grass meets the side of the lighthouse keeper's house; there is something both matter-of-fact and deeply mysterious there. The paint looks like it was applied with a palette knife and the way it catches the light makes the green hum. It sets off a series of visual echoes across the rest of the painting, right down to the waves. Think about Fairfield Porter, who, like Hopper, finds something quite profound in the everyday. It’s like Hopper is reminding us that art isn’t just about grand gestures, but about seeing the world with new eyes, and finding poetry in unexpected places.