| Hotel Lobby | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Edward Hopper  |
| Year | 1943 |
| Medium | oil paint, canvas |
| Dimensions | 81.9 cm (32.2 in) × 103.5 cm (40.7 in) |
| Location | Indianapolis Museum of Art |
Hotel Lobby is a 1943oil painting oncanvas byAmerican realist painterEdward Hopper; it is held in the collection of theIndianapolis Museum of Art (IMA), inIndianapolis, Indiana, United States.[1]
The painting depicts two women and a man in the lobby of a hotel. On the right is a woman with blond hair and a blue dress, sitting with her legs crossed and reading a book. To the left sits an older woman with a red dress, a coat and a hat. A man stands next to her, facing forward, with a suit on and an overcoat draped over his right arm. On the left wall, above the woman, is a framed landscape painting. A clerk behind the reception desk is barely visible in the shadows.[1]
Hotel Lobby is a signature piece in Hopper's work, displaying his classic themes ofalienation andbrevity.[1] The Hoppers traveled frequently, staying in many motels and hotels throughout his career. This is one of two works in his catalog that depicts a hotel, the other beingHotel Window (1955). The older couple are believed to represent Hopper and his wife, at that date in their 60s.[2] The hotel guests have been described as being "both traveling and suspended in time,"[1] reflecting a stoic and dramatic feeling, reminiscent of thefilm noir movies Hopper might have seen and the complex structure and feeling of works byEdgar Degas. The painting uses harsh light and rigid lines to create a "carefully constructed" uncomfortable environment. The elevated and theatricalvantage point of the painting may be derived from Hopper's love ofBroadway theatre which he often watched from the balcony.[1]
Before he created theHotel Lobby Hopper drew ten studies of the work, which were later given to theWhitney Museum of American Art by the estate of his wife, Josephine.[2][3][4] Nine of the ten studies are described as:
These studies show the older couple communicating, only to cease their conversation in the final painting and the reading man is replaced with a blonde young woman reading in the final painting.[5] The modeling for both women in the painting was done by his wife Josephine. After their marriage in 1920 she insisted on being the model for all of his female figures.[6]
The coat the older woman wears is based on afur coat owned by Hopper's wife, a coat she often wore to openings and a rare find in the Hopper's frugal household.
The red dress that the older woman wears (that Jo, in her journal, describes as "coral") signifies anger and extroversion, while the blue dress worn by the younger woman shows youth and distance. Throughout Hopper's sketches the clerk does not appear until the final painting. Under X-ray it can be seen that Hopper did little to change the canvas once he began work. Most alterations were made in the position of the young woman's head and in outlines of some areas in dark blue paint. A partial underdrawing was found but little detail remains.
Hopper was known to model for himself for figures, as inNighthawks, leading some to believe he may have modeled for the male figure inHotel Lobby.
One of the few paintings by Hopper to lack windows,Hotel Lobby uses light from the revolving door and an unseen area from between the ceiling beams.[2]
In 1945 Hopper was awarded theLogan Medal of the Arts and a $500honorarium forHotel Lobby.[7][8] The painting was chosen by a jury composed ofJuliana Force, then director of theWhitney Museum, and artistsRaphael Soyer andReginald Marsh.[8] In regards to the painting, Chicago criticC.J. Bulliet stated that "Mr. Hopper is getting a little lazy about the excellent formula he has hit.Hotel Lobby is typical Hopper, but Hopper that has lost something of its kick."[7] The artwork has been compared to Hopper's earlier workSummer Interior (1909), a work that helped to create Hopper's signature style; an intimate setting, simple lines and geometry, flat color usage and moody light. A shadowy figure and a sensual woman each make another visit inHotel Lobby as seen inSummer Interior.[2]
The painting was in the collection of Henry Hope fromBloomington, Indiana.[1]
From June until December 2006 the Whitney Museum, which has the largest holding of Hopper's works in the world, displayedHotel Lobby alongside their own works and key loans such asNighthawks (1942) andNew York Movie (1939).[9][10][11]Hotel Lobby is currently on display in the Indianapolis Museum of Art'sAmerican Scene Gallery.[1] In 2008 the IMA exhibited the work alongside the ten studies on loan from the Whitney inEdward Hopper: Paper to Paint, which ran until January 2009.[4]
In 1996Hotel Lobby was used as the paperback cover for the bookHotel Paradise byMartha Grimes.[12] The painting also appears inCity Limits: Crime, consumer culture and the urban experience byKeith Hayward.[13]