Edward Hopper

January 4, 2011 5:33 AM

I 'm learning English.And I am looking for some paintings of Edward Hopper ... that Gregory Orr describes in his essay, "Return to Hayneville" I don't think it is from Nighthawks. Could you recall some of Hopper paintings from his description?_And there is something completely new in town,the only new thing as far as I can see :a BP cnvenience store,where I stop for gas.The station is shiny and all lit up, its blue -green signs glowing intensely in the dark like those roadside stores in Edwards Hopeer paintings, gleaming forlornly against the primeval dark of rural Anywhere, America.
posted by mizukko to media & arts (5 answers total)

Well, Hopper has this painting of a gas station.
posted by eunoia at 5:39 AM on January 4, 2011

It doesn't call anything to mind in particular, though Hopper has several paintings like Nighthawks, and like this one, in which the light of the storefront/restaurant is spilling out into the dark street.

But I would not be surprised if Orr is misremembering, confusing the rural with the city.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 5:44 AM on January 4, 2011

In the quote you provide, Orr is talking in generalised terms: "...like those roadside stores in Edward Hopper paintings..." It sounds like Orr was trying to invoke a general impression, not reference a specific image.
posted by londonmark at 5:55 AM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Seconding Gas - one of my personal favorite paintings.
posted by fremen at 6:10 AM on January 4, 2011

It's either Gas as mentioned above, or maybe a misremembered version of Esso, in which an otherwise Generic Rural American town is invaded from stage right by a gas station.
posted by theodolite at 7:52 AM on January 4, 2011