Morning Sun
Morning Sun by Edward Hopper (1952)
© Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio
Best Interpretation: “I think it’s about vulnerability, uncertainty and choice. She is above the bed covers, the window open, very little clothing, a minimal level of physical barriers between herself and the outside world. Yet by being within the constraints of room she is included in that outside world.
She faces directly into the sun, acknowledging the new day. The building outside representative of a structured society that exists for her. Is she a refreshed component of that rigid structure, the morning light capturing her essence before once more entering into a routine of compliance? Will she make a choice that leads down an entirely new path?” -Tony
Issue Dec 2007
American Art
8 Responses to “Morning Sun”
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I think this painting is about differences. The woman sits inside, looking outside. The straight lines inside and outside are very different than her essence, which is more round. She’s nowhere, but she’s everywhere. She’s just like everything around her, also in colors and mood, but she’s very distinct. The world becomes her because she watches it.
The woman has just awakened from a short nap after her lover left. She wishes he could have stayed. Her time with him is always limited, no matter how long he stays. But ultimately, she always loses him to that outer world of hardscapes and industry.
It’s about comfort and the ability to think without color in the light of the sun. At that moment when first thoughts haven’t formed yet she imagines the image of a bagel or strawberries or something unformed like nublea.
She’s learned to be ok with being alone.
I think it’s about vulnerability, uncertainty and choice. She is above the bed covers, the window open, very little clothing, a minimal level of physical barriers between herself and the outside world.
Yet by being within the constraints of room she is included in that outside world.
She faces directly into the sun, acknowledging the new day. The building outside representative of a structured society that exists for her. Is she a refreshed component of that rigid structure, the morning light capturing her essence before once more entering into a routine of compliance? Will she make a choice that leads down an entirely new path?
The bland colors of the interior of the room along with the sad look on the woman’s face suggest she is unhappy; the fact that she is sitting alone on her bed might imply she is lonely. Her looking out through the window towards a clear blue sky, and the fact that it is morning, indicates hope and the possibility of new beginnings.
The horizon outside, the horizon within; cities that remember other cities, the skyline echoing elsewhere, even if what it recalls is this city–redly-rising, this distance, a woman ages as she retrieves time. There are places that can be seen from here that can’t be reached–even if she opens the door, smash the glass, wander out, even if she swims the backstroke into history, there are the somewheres that are nowheres to someone that once loved them.
I think that she is waiting, waiting for the one she loves to come home from the night shift at the shoelace factory. She is alone and waiting for some good morning love.