Intermission by Edward Hopper, 1963. Photo courtesy of sfmoma.org.

SFMOMA just acquired a piece by one of my favorite American artists: Intermission by Edward Hopper.

On my recent trip to Chicago, I had the pleasure of seeing Nighthawks again, a piece that has been mimicked and parodied so much that it is easy to forget why it’s a classic.

Nighthawks by Edward Hopper, 1942. Photo courtesy of artchive.com.

For those who love his work, Hopper captured the loneliness of urban isolation better than anyone else. But beyond that, Hopper’s paintings elicit a mélange of emotions as we seek to understand the plight of his subjects represented in somber hues. Hopper’s expert use of shadowing coupled with the ironic brightness of some of his pieces leaves the viewer unsettled and wanting to find a sense of hope beyond the confines of the canvas.

House by the Railroad by Edward Hopper, 1925. Photo courtesy of moma.org.