“In front of Edward Hopper’s paintings, I get the feeling they are scenes from movies that were never made.” ~ Wim Wenders.
So mused Wenders the acclaimed movie director in his 2020 short film art installation 'Two or Three Things I know about Edward Hopper' - and he has a point; for example Wenders' classic 1984 road movie 'Paris Texas' not only evokes the visual style of Hopper's Americana paintings but it also captures the mood. Hopper's paintings are frequently devoid of people but when they are there there is often a sense of solitude and melancholia. His figures may be devoid of a sense of movement but there is the feeling that they have been captured in a moment of their life - they do not seem posed but caught as if through a voyeuristic lens. They may be lost in thought but there is frequently a tension as if something is about to happen or that they are reflecting upon something that has already happened.
Gas - Edward Hopper (1940)
Two or Three Things I Know About Edward Hopper - Wim Wenders (1920)
Paris Texas - Wim Wenders (1984)
Wenders is not the only film-maker whose work bears inspiration by the art of Edward Hopper - notably Alfred Hitchcock even based the iconic Bates House in his weird thriller Psycho (1960) was influenced by the 1925 painting House by the Railroad. The house also bears a distinct resemblance to The Addams Family home in the TV series and the house in Hitchcock's 1954 film Rear Window based upon the Cornell Woolrich short story is very 'Hopperesque' in style both for visuals and voyeurism.
House by the Railroad - Edward Hopper (1925) Psycho - Alfred Hitchcock (1960)
David Lynch has also paid tribute to the work of Edward Hopper. Thematically both Hopper's and Lynch's work suggest that scratch beneath the facade of everyday America and you may find something altogether stranger and perhaps sinister.
Office at Night - Edward Hopper (1940) Twin Peaks - David Lynch (2017)
Drugstore - Edward Hopper (1927)
Twin Peaks - David Lynch (2017)
Twin Peaks - David Lynch (1990)
Automat - Edward Hopper (1927)
Edward Hopper's most famous painting is probably Nighthawks (1942). This moody capture of a diner at night has been parodied many times with versions featuring characters from The Simpsons cartoons to Sesame Street to Star Wars. I extend thanks to Darren Charles for reminding me of the tribute to this painting in Profondo Rosso (Deep Red) - Dario Argento's classic 1975 Giallo movie. The Flapper hat worn by a female customer in the film's Blue Bar also seems to be a tribute to the 1927 painting Automat.
Profondo Rosso / Deep Red - Dario Argento (1975)
Hopper was an appreciator of numerous art-forms including cinema and pulp fiction, therefore in some ways it was a feedback loop. Cinematic lighting, framing and mood that Hopper took from the silver screen to his canvas was returned to cinema and television by the directors inspired by his works.
Night Shadows - Edward Hopper (1921)
New York Cinema - Edward Hopper (1939)
Edward Hopper (1882 - 1967) - photograph by Arnold Newman (1960)
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