Western Motel Artist: Edward Hopper (American, 1882–1967)

1957

American Paintings and Sculpture

On view, 3rd floor, Modern and Contemporary Art and Design

Edward Hopper found inspiration in the commonplace of American life. In Western Motel, an anonymous motel bedroom becomes a symbol of the mobility and rootlessness of modern life. The spare furnishings, stark interior, and sharp bands of light produce a composition of masterful simplicity, yet one that is layered with psychological ambiguity. The woman staring across the room does not seem to see us; the pensiveness of her stare and her tense posture accentuate the sense of some impending event. She appears to be waiting: the luggage is packed, the room is devoid of personal objects, the bed is made, and a car is parked outside the window.

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

30 5/8 × 50 1/2 in. (77.8 × 128.3 cm)

Credit Line

Bequest of Stephen Carlton Clark, B.A. 1903

Accession Number

1961.18.32

Geography

Made in United States

Culture

American

Period

20th century

Classification

Paintings

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
Stephen Carlton Clark (1882–1967), New York, about 1957 to 1961; bequeathed to the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 1961
Bibliography
  • American Art: Selections from the Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2023), 231, 233, no. 112, ill
  • Wendy Drexler, Western Motel (Cincinnati: Turning Point, 2012), Cover page, ill
  • Jane Hedley, Nick Halpern, and Willard Spiegelman, eds., In the Frame: Women's Ekphrastic Poetry from Marianne Moore to Susan Wheeler (Newark, N.J.: University of Delaware Press, 2009), P. 82, Fig. 5, Ill., ill
  • Carter E. Foster, Western Motel: Edward Hopper and Contemporary Art, exh. cat. (Nuremberg: Verlag fu¨r moderne Kunst, 2008), 79,99,119, ill
  • Harriet G. Warkel, Paper to Paint: Edward Hopper's Hotel Lobby (Indianapolis: Indianapolis Museum of Art, 2008), 32, fig. 16
  • Carol L. Troyen et al., Edward Hopper, exh. cat. (Verona, Italy: MFA Publications, 2007), 222, no. 109, ill
  • Michael Conforti et al., The Clark Brothers Collect: Impressionist and Early Modern Paintings, exh. cat. (Williamstown, Mass.: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 2006), 140, 186, 289, 316, 332, fig. 117
Object copyright
.
In Copyright
Additional information

Object/Work type

figures (representations), genre (visual works), human figures (visual works), interior architecture, landscapes (representations)

Subject

automobiles beds (furniture) dresses luggage machines motels psychology rooms shadows sitting sunlight travel windows women

Signed

Signed lower left "EDWARD HOPPER"

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