Laura JG on Spoutible

By Edward Hopper (1882–1967), “Eleven A.M.,” 1926, oil on canvas, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. #art #arthistory

Paul Richard, Washington Post, April 6, 2002: “In Edward Hopper's "Eleven A.M." (1926) time seems set adrift. This is a picture of two reveries, one hers, the other ours.  A nude sits amid draperies. Any image so familiar is bound to feel at least a little bit antique. The woman by the window lost in her own thoughts calls to mind Vermeer. Her nakedness-with-shoes suggests Manet's scandalous "Olympia." But these are fleeting references, and do not linger long. We're not in Delft or Paris. The intimate-anonymous flavor of the scene is 20th-century American. We're in a building with an elevator. The woman in the easy chair stares into an air shaft. Other lives are being lived just beyond the walls. There's no glass in the window. The viewer cannot tell if it's closed or open. Hopper seldom bothered painting in his panes. She's vulnerable. Her building's heavy, square-cut blocks accentuate the softness of her unclothed flesh. And yet we sense no danger. She's not a victim or a sex object...

01:30 PM - Apr 17, 2024

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