Steps in Paris 1906

Curator: We're looking at Edward Hopper's "Steps in Paris," painted in 1906. Currently, it resides here at the Whitney Museum of American Art. What strikes you about this early Hopper piece? Editor: The immediate impression is almost oppressive, a heavy feeling. It’s all these linear forms – the stairs, the railings – pressing down, and that looming building at the top almost like a gatekeeper. The color palette definitely heightens the sense of confinement and institutional authority. Curator: Absolutely. Hopper was finding his footing within the American impressionist movement, influenced by his time in Paris. It's an oil painting; consider the physical context he’s creating, these deliberate choices as he grapples with representing urban modernity, these themes of access and restriction become significant throughout his career. Editor: And accessibility, or the denial of it, often correlates with socio-economic disparity. These steps suggest movement, upward mobility maybe, but they also highlight division and barriers. How many could afford to walk these Parisian streets freely in 1906? How has it changed now, with gentrification? Curator: It is very true, though at first glance, some may interpret the geometric composition and the absence of human figures as purely aesthetic, perhaps even formalist, focusing solely on line and form and color—that is what's intended from this painting in relation to that time period and what painting style that this artwork would relate to. Hopper does give this architectural perspective as he paints what he sees in Europe Editor: It seems more radical and more challenging to the viewer—these forms almost act as boundaries rather than conduits of travel. If we delve deeper into Hopper's relationship to the themes in cityscapes such as urban anonymity, these buildings could signify a form of containment in which people must move a certain way. And look at how that stark white section on the lower-right isolates that small piece of railing! It amplifies the loneliness that we frequently relate to in modern urban space. Curator: Indeed. These initial observations can allow us a chance to expand our critical thinking by acknowledging how the socio-political undercurrents interact with even the seemingly straightforward depiction of, say, a set of stairs. Editor: So as we examine it, "Steps in Paris" leads us to questions regarding individual agency and power dynamics within a constructed setting. And as that awareness gets built in this artwork we could come to see modern life represented, not in terms of liberty and accessibility for all—but we can get a glimpse to its restrictive force.