Excursion into Philosophy 1959

This is Edward Hopper’s “Excursion into Philosophy,” and what a title, huh? What was Hopper thinking? I like to imagine it as a question: “How do I make a painting that feels like alienation?” The stark light, the window like a frame within a frame. The book tossed on the bed, a failed attempt to connect. The male figure is so stiff. The woman’s body is truncated, we can’t see her face. Maybe she's a synecdoche for… what, exactly? Hopper’s painting is kind of a bummer. But you know, he puts the paint on with such care. I wonder if he was thinking about De Chirico's dreamscapes, or maybe he was just in a mood, trying to figure things out. Artists steal from each other all the time and that’s a good thing. It's like we're all just remixing the same old feelings, trying to make something new out of them. Anyway, that’s just my two cents. What do I know?