| New York Movie | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Edward Hopper  |
| Year | 1939 |
| Medium | oil paint, canvas |
| Accession No. | 396.1941 |
New York Movie is an oil on canvas painting by American painterEdward Hopper. The painting was begun in December 1938 and finished in January of 1939.[1] Measuring 32 1/4 x 40 1/8",New York Movie depicts a nearly empty movie theater occupied with a few scattered moviegoers and a pensive usherette lost in her thoughts. Praised for its brilliant portrayal of multiple light sources,New York Movie is one of Hopper's well-regarded works.
New York Movie is a composite painting, meaning that it combines several separate sources into a single work. As she did for many of his paintings, Josephine Hopper, a famous painter in her own right for years before her marriage to Hopper, served as a muse forNew York Movie, having posed under a lamp in the hall of his apartment. As with many of his other works, Hopper did not attempt to paint her with any obvious sexual appeal, as he hoped with his work to paint women with complete honesty towards their situation, both exterior and interior.[2] Some claim thatNew York Movie is a counterpart toÉdouard Manet's 1882A Bar at the Folies-Bergère, with the usherette a modern representation of the waitress.[3]
While the theater depicted inNew York Movie is entirely designed by him, Hopper took inspiration from thePalace Theatre (New York City), theLunt-Fontanne Theatre (at the time known as the Globe Theatre), the Republic Theater (now known as theNew Victory Theater), and theStrand Theatre (Manhattan),[4] making over fifty sketches of the theaters before he began the project.[5] Hopper was fascinated by film, and it is said that, when experiencing creative block, he would stay at the theater all day.[6] Despite his fascination with film,New York Movie itself depicts an isolation and melancholy, even though theaters at the time sat up to thousands. Furthermore, some critics argue that the usherette is lost in her imagination only as a result of her separation from the movie currently playing, a sleight against movie going audiences of the time period,[1] and that her separation incurs sympathy within the viewer.[7] Others claim thatNew York Movie and other paintings of city life are Hopper's ode to the warmth and endurance of the human spirit in the midst of the dehumanizing existence that is mass living.[8] Hopper also drew inspiration fromEdgar Degas—specificallyInterior—in terms of the composition of the lighting as well as the overall nocturnal nature of the work.[9]
Despite the fact that the movie in the painting itself is not exactly known, Hopper's wife and fellow painterJosephine Hopper wrote in her notes onNew York Movie that the image represents fragments of snow-covered mountains.[6] Art historian Teresa A. Carbone argues that the popular filmLost Horizon (1937) is the most likely possibility, as a "shot of the snow-capped Himalyas" features heavily in the film.[10]
New York Movie has been hung in both theMuseum of Modern Art and theWhitney Museum of American Art as part of several large Edward Hopper exhibitions under the care of his estate’s curator, Gail Levin.[11] “Edward Hopper: The Art and the Artist” was an exhibition of the artist’s work, includingNew York Movie, that began at the Whitney and traveled to theHayward Gallery in London, theStedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the Städtische Kunsthalle in Düsseldorf, TheArt Institute of Chicago, and theSan Francisco Museum of Modern Art.[12] New York Movie has also been included in Edward Hopper retrospectives at the Whitney, the Art Institute of Chicago, theDetroit Institute of Arts, and theSt. Louis Art Museum.[13]
Through an anonymous donation,New York Movie is currently hanging in the Alfred H. Barr, Jr. Galleries in the Museum of Modern Art.[14]
New York Movie has been influential in both the fields of poetry and film.
Concerning poetry, a number of poets have used Hopper's portrayal entertainment and the reflective nature of the usherette for their own works. American poetJoseph Stanton wrote a poem titled “Edward Hopper’s New York Movie” in his collection of poetryImaginary Museum: Poems on Art.[15] Gerald Locklin, English poet and professor at California State University, also wrote a poem titled "edward hopper;new york movie, 1939".[16] More recently, poet Jacks DeWitt published a poem in 2012 titled "Hopper: New York Movie"[17]
The painting is specifically noted for its shadows and use of lighting, and, as many of his works, New York Movie is suggested to be an inspiration for manyfilm noir movies,[18] and films depicting female isolation.[19]Sam Mendes specifically references Edward Hopper’sNew York Movie in his filming ofRoad to Perdition, noting that the lighting of the scene is a source of poetry within the painting and claiming that the loneliness and desolation that results from the partial obscureness of her face was an inspiration for the film.[20] Quentin Tarantino's 2009 filmInglourious Basterds, has a scene where the heroine Shosanna stands at an empty lobby in shadowy lighting; the way she places her hand on her chin evokes Hopper's painting.[21]Fat City (1972) was another film influenced byNew York Movie, as production designerRichard Sylbert used the painting, along withNighthawks, for the color scheme of the movie.[22]