Essay on Automat by Edward Hopper

... Automat - Edward Hopper (1927) (Des Moines Art Center) Automat (1927) is a painting by Edward Hopper which portrays a lone woman staring into a cup of coffee in an automat late at night. Art critics often cite the work as an example of urban alienation. A young woman sits alone, the chair across from her drawn in close to the table. Her hat is pulled low over her forehead; her eyes are fixed on her coffee cup. Dressed in the armor of fashion, she wears her good clothes: a winter coat with fur at the collar and cuffs and a spring cloche with a brave bunch of cherries at the brim. But hat and coat do not quite go together, and, like the young woman herself, seem a bit tired and not quite up to date. As she sits without companionship in the automat (a restaurant whose mechanical delivery of entrees, drinks,

want to read more? →