Edward Hopper
1927

There are many speculations about the girl in this painting.  Is she waiting for a friend?  Did she just finish her shift at work?  Since she has one glove on, is she still warming up?  Or in a hurry to get somewhere?  Her legs are very bright under the table, and are maybe meant to make her an object of desire.  A recurring theme in his paintings, Hopper positions the viewer so that we feel like we are intruding on her deep thoughts.

My favorite local coffee shop, Mugwalls, is the one place you can usually find me, if I’m not at home or on campus.  With an eclectic arrangement of random chairs and tables, you feel like you’re sitting in your own living room, especially if you’re fortunate enough to score one of the seats with an ottoman.  When I decided to do this painting, there was no hesitation that this was the perfect setting for the scene.  Aside from moving the round table about a foot, I didn’t move any of the furniture.  I managed to arrive an hour before closing on a friday night, so I had a very small audience.  Please note the infamous yellow “DTR chair” in the left of the photo.  Probably the most spectacular chair ever invented, it’s perfect for catching up with a friend, lounging down by yourself, or “determining the relationship” with a love interest.

I had been on the lookout for the perfect hat, and thankfully, my friend Rachel collects vintage hats, a detail about her that I did not know.  The one I chose to wore was her grandmother’s.  While in her room looking at her collection, I spotted a coat rack in the corner with a little piece of fur sticking out. “What is that??”  ”Oh, this is a coat a friend gave me.”  How perfect is it??

Special thanks to Jose, for being a great assistant, and to Rachel, for the perfect wardrobe.