Lonely In The Light And Shade

Edward Hopper is a great realist painter in the history of art, and he is one of the most influential painters in the United States. This paper is based on his unique style of art works as the object of study, analyzed the background of his life and cultural environment, found the cause of his painting style. Explored the relationship between techniques and the work of the lonely atmosphere by interpreting the formal language in the picture. Finally summed up the value of Hopper’s painting and the aesthetic feelings in his works.Hopper’s style was mature in 1930s. In the impact of art trend of Europe and the United States, and in the collision of figurative painting and abstract painting, Hopper created his own way of painting. His work is about the modern life of the United States, the objects are the city which American people are familiar with, countryside life, tracking down the influence of times on people’s emotions. Hopper’s typical styles are lonely pictures, lonely streets, and sad souls. This paper considers that Hopper’s paintings draw on the spirit and form of the trend of many paintings, applied the concept of modern painting to the traditional realistic painting, reflected people’s emotions, insist on his own understanding of painting art in the complex art environment. While Hopper was inheriting the traditional painting, he also updated the formal language of painting art. Imaging of light and shadow, fusion of shape and color, metaphor of human and the scene, all these painting language together to create a sense of loneliness in the works, made a more profound meaning.