Edward Hopper at the Whitney

The Hopper show is small and accompanied by many pieces by contemporary
artists and photographers.

Sometimes, however the context can get to be too much. Walking into the exhibit the viewer
sees a film of New York Harbor from the twenties. We went on a Friday night and there
was a sizable crowd watching the film of ships coming into New York Harbor. You see photos
by Steiglitz of people in steerage arriving into New York Harbor.

The non condescending portraits of women are good. I especially
like Guy Pene de Bois who did a life size- statue of his wife
a large woman who presides happily over the space of the second
gallery. And then there is the last portrait by Hopper where a beautiful
middle aged woman stand naked staring out a window. Some portrayals of
women are not so flattering, for example Sailors and Floosies,
which my friend and I spent several minutes in front of going what the....?
Evening Wind in the first gallery shows a woman in front of a window, nude,
staring through billowing curtains to the outside. A contemporary( to Hopper) sketch
from the second gallery shows flappers the pleats of their silk dresses lit from
behind is stunning.

Many of the classic paintings by Hopper are there. His store fronts continue to mesmerize
all the different levels of window shades and shut down store fronts by inviting the
viewer in and keeping them at a distance with their appealing beauty.

The third gallery shows more industrial landscapes. Pictures of the canals around the
industrial plants of Detroit stand out.

In the second to last room of the show are my favorite pictures. The best pictures are
of the suburbs.I love a small water color of the outside of a church. One of the best things
about landscapes in general is the way they can be a window into another time. These bring
us to afternoons long ago, which even though they were decades ago are perhaps surprisingly
close to the present. The picture reminded me of being at some social event as a child where
there were mostly adults and feeling cast out playing outside on the lawn.