How do the artists Edward Hopper and Gustave Caillebotte present urban isolation in their work?
This essay aims to explore how the artists Edward Hopper (1882-1967) and Gustave Caillebotte
(1848 –1894) presented the idea of urban isolation in their work. This is a theme that is heavily
laced within their work, despite this perhaps not always being the intention, and it comes as a
result of the times that these artists worked in; the turn of the century between the 1800s and
1900s bringing vast social, economic and political change. The cities began to grow, and the
developing city is depicted in Caillebotte’s work, with the newly modern urban environment being
explored in juxtaposition with the old in Hopper’s work. The ever-progressing urban life can lead to
a feeling of disconnect, something that is felt in modern society today, too. Both artists use similar
techniques in order to convey this message; use of contrasting light, the use of similar perspectives
in their work, and most significantly, the way in which people are portrayed in their work. In this
essay, I will be comparing these two artists through their work, investigating their influence on each
other, and how they were influenced by other artists.
, The main way in which both these artists conveyed the idea of loneliness is, in a way ironically, the
use of people
within their
compositions.
Neither artists
were renowned
for their
portraiture, both
of them rarely
doing portraits.
The people in
Rooms in New York (1932), Edward Hopper their works are
not the subject of the painting; rather, they add to the
complexity and the layers within the work. If you take Hopper’s piece,
Room in New York (1932), two figures can be seen in a room, evidently
in New York. The view looks in from the window, giving the viewer a
voyeuristic point of view, and the two people- presumably a couple-
are seen, engrossed in their own, separate activities. The man is
reading a newspaper, and the woman seems about to play a piano;
reflective of gender roles, where the man is presented as an
intellectual and the woman is domestic, playing music while wearing a
silky dress. Both figures are tense, the silence hanging between them
made obvious. They do not look at one another, nor at the viewer,
maintaining the feeling of anonymity between them and the way they
occupy their own worlds. An air of expectation hangs in this painting,
Interior, Woman at the
however, with the woman about to play piano, breaking the heavy Window (1880), Gustave
silence. This painting almost mirrors Caillebotte’s Interior, Woman at Caillebotte
the Window (1880). A man is once again absorbed in his newspaper, with the woman facing away
from him, in a world of her own. This time, however, the view is not from the window- rather, she
faces it, staring out, perhaps looking at something outside, or simply lost in her thoughts. The
painting is likely set in Paris, and is in a middle-class setting- as is Hopper’s New York room.
Caillebotte in this piece uses cool blue tones- the curtains, the man’s suit, the shadows and even
the view from the window echoes similar blue tones. The coolness of this piece emphasises the
separateness of the couple; the use of blue tones to emphasise the coldness and separateness of a
family is also seen in Degas’ work The Bellelli Family.
This piece was of Degas’ sister Laura and her family- it was not a happy marriage, like many other
middle-class marriages in Europe at the time. The woman and the two girls are dressed for
mourning, the woman’s black dress stark on the paleness of the rest of the piece. The man is
separated from the family, in the way he is dressed
and his more relaxed posture. The man also faces the
wall, with a black armchair blocking him from the
viewer. This piece shows the divide between the
couple, the central child being the only connector
The Bellelli Family (1858–1867), Edgar Degas
This essay aims to explore how the artists Edward Hopper (1882-1967) and Gustave Caillebotte
(1848 –1894) presented the idea of urban isolation in their work. This is a theme that is heavily
laced within their work, despite this perhaps not always being the intention, and it comes as a
result of the times that these artists worked in; the turn of the century between the 1800s and
1900s bringing vast social, economic and political change. The cities began to grow, and the
developing city is depicted in Caillebotte’s work, with the newly modern urban environment being
explored in juxtaposition with the old in Hopper’s work. The ever-progressing urban life can lead to
a feeling of disconnect, something that is felt in modern society today, too. Both artists use similar
techniques in order to convey this message; use of contrasting light, the use of similar perspectives
in their work, and most significantly, the way in which people are portrayed in their work. In this
essay, I will be comparing these two artists through their work, investigating their influence on each
other, and how they were influenced by other artists.
, The main way in which both these artists conveyed the idea of loneliness is, in a way ironically, the
use of people
within their
compositions.
Neither artists
were renowned
for their
portraiture, both
of them rarely
doing portraits.
The people in
Rooms in New York (1932), Edward Hopper their works are
not the subject of the painting; rather, they add to the
complexity and the layers within the work. If you take Hopper’s piece,
Room in New York (1932), two figures can be seen in a room, evidently
in New York. The view looks in from the window, giving the viewer a
voyeuristic point of view, and the two people- presumably a couple-
are seen, engrossed in their own, separate activities. The man is
reading a newspaper, and the woman seems about to play a piano;
reflective of gender roles, where the man is presented as an
intellectual and the woman is domestic, playing music while wearing a
silky dress. Both figures are tense, the silence hanging between them
made obvious. They do not look at one another, nor at the viewer,
maintaining the feeling of anonymity between them and the way they
occupy their own worlds. An air of expectation hangs in this painting,
Interior, Woman at the
however, with the woman about to play piano, breaking the heavy Window (1880), Gustave
silence. This painting almost mirrors Caillebotte’s Interior, Woman at Caillebotte
the Window (1880). A man is once again absorbed in his newspaper, with the woman facing away
from him, in a world of her own. This time, however, the view is not from the window- rather, she
faces it, staring out, perhaps looking at something outside, or simply lost in her thoughts. The
painting is likely set in Paris, and is in a middle-class setting- as is Hopper’s New York room.
Caillebotte in this piece uses cool blue tones- the curtains, the man’s suit, the shadows and even
the view from the window echoes similar blue tones. The coolness of this piece emphasises the
separateness of the couple; the use of blue tones to emphasise the coldness and separateness of a
family is also seen in Degas’ work The Bellelli Family.
This piece was of Degas’ sister Laura and her family- it was not a happy marriage, like many other
middle-class marriages in Europe at the time. The woman and the two girls are dressed for
mourning, the woman’s black dress stark on the paleness of the rest of the piece. The man is
separated from the family, in the way he is dressed
and his more relaxed posture. The man also faces the
wall, with a black armchair blocking him from the
viewer. This piece shows the divide between the
couple, the central child being the only connector
The Bellelli Family (1858–1867), Edgar Degas
