Edward Hopper’s Cinema Paintings
Film Palace Nostalgia, Usherette’s Disillusionment, and Bomb Threats
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24215/23142502e023Keywords:
Edward Hopper, film palaces, painting and cinema, usherette, American artAbstract
Edward Hopper —who is known for his pictorial compositions reminiscent of film scenes and who inspired many filmmakers— went to the cinema himself very often. He also addressed cinema exteriors and interiors as a topic in some of his works. In the following, three central works on cinemas by Edward Hopper —The Sheridan Theatre (1937), The Circle Theatre (1936), and New York Movie (1939)— whose historical context has not yet been examined in detail will be analysed. With their sophisticated compositions, they are very illustrative of cinema history in particular and American history of the 1930s in general. Hopper draws attention to contemporary urban trouble spots for unrest enhanced by cheapening strategies in the film exhibition business. He also deals with the changed cinema experiences in the 1930s and deconstructs the glamour of the job of the usherette and exposes the alienation of their work.Downloads
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References
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Allan, S. (2019). Faux Frère: Manet and the Salon, 1879-82. In S. Allan et al. (Eds.), Manet and Modern Beauty. The Artistʼs Last Years (pp. 15-42). Los Angeles, United States: Getty Publications.
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Silberman, R. (2002). Hopper and the theater of the mind. Vision, spectacle, and the spectator. In P. McDonnell (Ed.), On the edge of your seat: popular theater and film in early twentiethcentury American art (pp. 137-155). New Haven, United States: Yale University Press.
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Walkout averted in operator dispute. (1935, August 17). Motion Picture Herald, p. 32.
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Allan, S. (2019). Faux Frère: Manet and the Salon, 1879-82. In S. Allan et al. (Eds.), Manet and Modern Beauty. The Artistʼs Last Years (pp. 15-42). Los Angeles, United States: Getty Publications.
Anonymous. (1922). The Sheridan Theatre, New York. Architecture and Building, 54(2), 18-19.
Ballin, H. (1921). Jane Eyre [Film].
Balogh, E. (2017). Stars in the Aisles: Cinema usherettes, identity and ideology. Participations. Journal of Audience & Reception Studies, 14(1), 22-48.
Berkow, I. G. (1996). Edward Hopper. An American Master. New York, United States: Smithmark.
Bomb 2 Columbus Circle, N. Y., Film Theatres; Labor? (1935, August 14). Variety, p. 19.
Brooks, M. W. (1997). Subway City: Riding the Trains, Reading New York. New Brunswick, Canada / London, United Kingdom: Rutgers University Press.
Butsch, R. (2001). American Movie Audiences of the 1930s. International Labor and Working-Class History, 59(59), 106-120.
Clark, T. J. (1986). The Painting of Modern Life: Paris in the Art of Manet and his Followers. New York, United States: Alfred A. Knopf.
Doss, E. (2015). Hopper’s Cool: Modernism and Emotional Restraint. American Art, 29(3), 2-27. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/684918?seq=1
E. B. Lewis is dead, dairy executive. (1936, September 21). The New York Times, p. 23.
Foster, C. E. et al. (2008). Western Motel: Edward Hopper and Contemporary Art. Nürnberg, Germany: Verlag für moderne Kunst.
Foster, C. E. (2013). Hopper Drawing. New York, United States: Whitney Museum of American Art.
Gembara, S. (2015). New York City’s red and green lights: a brief look back in time. Campbell, United States: FastPencil.
Hathaway, H. (1936). Go West Young Man [Film]. United States: Emanuel Cohen Productions
Hereʼs candidate for youngest exhibitorʼs title, started at 17. (1927, August 13). Exhibitors Herald, p. 18.
Inside Stuff - Legit. (1934, October 16). Variety, p. 54.
Kuhn, A. (1985). The power of the image. London, United Kingdom: Routledge.
Levin, G. (1995). Edward Hopper: An Intimate Biography. New York, United States: Alfred A. Knopf.
Managers round table club. (1930, November 29). Motion Picture News, p. 61.
McShane, C. (1999). The Origins and Globalization of Traffic Control Signals. Journal of Urban History, 25(3), 397-404. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/009614429902500304
Melnick, R. (2012). American Showman. Samuel «Roxy» Rothafel and the Birth of the Entertainment Industry, 1908–1935. New York, United States: Columbia University Press.
Movie Operator Uses Screen For Plea to People. (1937, July 31). The Christian Science Monitor, p. 1.
Pleasing Varied Cosmopolitan Tastes. (1922, February 25). Exhibitorʼs Trade Review, p. 909.
Rhodes, G. D. (2012). The Perils of Moviegoing in America 1896–1950. New York, United States / London, United Kingdom: Continuum.
Rühse, V. (2013). «Dies wunderbare Gemählde». Ästhetische und kunstpolitische Aspekte in Texten von Clemens Brentano, Achim von Arnim und Heinrich von Kleist zu Caspar David Friedrichs Landschaftsgemälde «Mönch am Meer». In G. Blamberger et al (Eds.), Kleist-Jahrbuch 2013 (pp. 238-255). Stuttgart, Germany: J. B. Metzler.
Schneider, D. B. (2000, March 19). F. Y. I. The New York Times, p. CY 2.
Silberman, R. (2002). Hopper and the theater of the mind. Vision, spectacle, and the spectator. In P. McDonnell (Ed.), On the edge of your seat: popular theater and film in early twentiethcentury American art (pp. 137-155). New Haven, United States: Yale University Press.
Strand, M. (2001). Hopper. New York, United States: Alfred A. Knopf.
The Quill. (1921, October). The Quill, p. 23.
Traffic Lights Increased, City to Install 250 New Signals With WPA Cooperation. (1936, April 17). The New York Times, p. 23.
van Hoogstraten, N. (1997). Lost Broadway Theatres. New York, United States: Princeton Architectural Press.
Walkout averted in operator dispute. (1935, August 17). Motion Picture Herald, p. 32.
Watts, J. (2003). Mae West. An Icon in Black and White. New York, United States: Oxford University Press.
Wyler, W. (1935). The Good Fairy [Film]. United States: Universal Pictures.
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Published
2020-09-30
How to Cite
Rühse, V. (2020). Edward Hopper’s Cinema Paintings: Film Palace Nostalgia, Usherette’s Disillusionment, and Bomb Threats. Boletín De Arte, (20), e023. https://doi.org/10.24215/23142502e023
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