City Roofs 1932

Curator: I see desolation in the afternoon light—an unusual harmony of shapes in the ordinary urban sprawl. Editor: Indeed, "City Roofs" painted in 1932 by Edward Hopper is now in a private collection. A scene of realism; It is both alienating, with a kind of silent beauty. Curator: Silent...Yes, I sense this tension, this sense of a staged scene in New York city. All those ochre hues and the hard sunlight bouncing off the rooftops. The composition feels as rigid and airless as any movie set, maybe it's a reference? I can not see an actual place here only what exists to me as a set with hard geometry. Editor: Notice how Hopper uses the geometry to structure space. The verticality of the skyscraper is interrupted by a myriad of windows—repeated rectangles acting as the facade. The horizontal chimneys and structures lead our vision across, an exploration of a three-dimensional plane into two dimensions. A sort of architectural cubism, isn't it? The painting shows the modernist tendency for urban geometry that breaks down real forms into constituent shapes to produce this specific sense of space. Curator: Hopper has never given himself over to symbolism. Everything always stands for itself! Not only is this oil on canvas showing the simple poetry of seeing for the first time but the effect of seeing those things from a distance. I can not sense a man in this space as Hopper always offers but the lack of them! What a trick from Hopper who needs no one to convey solitude. Editor: That's a fascinating point, and the color, in the shades of umber, serves to create an immersive effect. What might be seen as mundane gets magnified—Hopper challenges the viewer to really observe space. The light itself sculpts, almost a tactile engagement between artist and materiality. Curator: It’s hard to disagree with you, and hard not to love Edward Hopper...It truly invites me into the silence of those spaces, not to judge, just be. Editor: Agreed. What this does is not allow us to judge but rather analyze and try to reflect on Hopper’s particular approach. It's a potent, distilled kind of visual poetics of observation.