Submitted by:
Maggie Tucker, Brentwood Middle School, Brentwood Tennessee
7th Grade Student Example: Edward Hopper, Tables
for Ladies
7th
Grade Student Essay –Paragraph form – Edward Hopper, Tables for Ladies
http://www.mystudios.com/art/modern/hopper/hopper-tables.html
Art Final: Art
Criticism
1.
Artist: Edward Hooper
Title: Tables for Ladies
Year Produced: 1930
Media: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 122x153cm 2.
2.
What type of artwork do you
consider this painting? Why?
Art as Expression. Hopper was attempting to display
the dredges of life, loneliness, isolation, and lack of variety.
Everyday this waitress goes to work, and she takes people's
orders. There is no variety, and she barely has any time to talk
to anyone.
Hopper painted many such
paintings designed to show the loneness of people. You cannot see
the person in the foreground's face, but the person in the
background is very sad and gloomy. She looks like this is the last
thing in the world she wants to be doing.
3.
Description
What is happening? A waitress is at work.
Where is it happening? At a restaurant.
When is it happening?
a.
Time of day? Dinnertime
b.
Time of year? Summer, spring-the
people are wearing short sleeves.
4.
Analysis
a.
Name the type of art movement
Hopper belonged to: Realist tradition.
How did this influence his work? Hopper designed the art to
focus on things that the Realist
traditionists (traditionalists) thought.
Did
anything happen in his life that may have influenced his work?
Yes, he lived in New York
City, he may have longed for a more isolated life, or may be
arguing that isolated lives are bad.
b.
Did Hopper use rules of
perspective drawing? Yes, it is in drawn in
two point perspective. (Ex. The oranges go to one point
while the tables go to another) Objects get less detailed as they
go toward the vanishing points. All lines go to vanishing
points/up and down/sideways.
5.
What is the real meaning behind
the painting?
As mentioned in number two, Hooper was trying to show how
dreary and boring life can be at times. The waitress in the
picture does not have an interesting life, and probably just puts
one foot in front of the other each day, whereas the men in the
background eating dinner, are probably wealthy businessmen that
make important decisions each day. I think this painting was
designed to show A. the waitress's misery, and B. The contrast
between interesting persons (Ex. Business people) and boring
persons (Waitress and counterperson).
6.
Do you think the artist succeeded in what he was
trying to accomplish?
Yes
and no. I think the artist succeeded, but it was not obvious to me
at first. I did not realize the mood of the painting until I
looked at things such as the lights (which are dark), the
expressions on peoples faces (sad), and other such things. I also
think this could have been more accurately displayed as another
scene such as the streets of New York City.
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