ART GALLERY - Edward Hopper

Edward Hopper (American, 1882–1967), the best-known American realist of the inter-war period and one of my favourits. Self-Portrait 1925-30, Oil on canvas 25 1/16 x 20 3/8 in. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

In Hopper’s Self-Portrait one cannot tell whether he is sitting or standing. He is viewed from left to right, from foreground diagonally inward, and because he is wearing a hat, we assume that he is just arriving or just leaving. His eyes give us the appearance that he is looking into a mirror—perhaps the mirror or reflection of his life. His hat, in casting a shadow over his eyes, acts as sort of a mask—perhaps a mask of inner feelings.