This past weekend I went to see the Edward Hopper and the American Hotel exhibition at the VMFA with my uncles, who really love art. I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition but was honestly kind of surprised by it. Beforehand, I didn't know that the exhibition included more than just Hopper's work, what I had been expecting. All I knew about the exhibition was what I got from a quick look at an article in the newspaper. I had seen a picture of the real life set up of the painting above, Western Motel. I thought this was such a cool exhibit idea when I saw the picture, and was even more fascinated by it when I saw it real life. The real-life set up made the corresponding painting come to life. Also, since I was very familiar with Western Motel and the kind of tone I got from it, when I saw the set up it was kind of like the same feeling that I had seen in the feelings came over me. All of Hopper's pieces really interested me, as I just have so many questions. While looking at his pieces, I was continuously drawn to all the vertical lines within his composition. It wasn't that I didn't like this element, I just wonder the meaning behind it. I was also fascinated by the simplicity of the paintings, with a very complicated underlying tone. It's clear that there is deep content within and behind these paintings. I am not going to say that I in anyway fully understand this content, but the context provided by the other works in the exhibit, not by Hopper, really gave me a better grasp on it. All the other pieces related to hotels and motels and the history of them and what they can represent, supported and accompanied Hopper's pieces really nicely. Even though I hadn't been expecting this, the other works were much appreciated. Overall, I really enjoyed this exhibit, as I feel like I learned a lot about Hopper but also learned some history. I hope to learn more about Hopper in the future and get closer to answering some of the questions I have, such as
-is there meaning behind all of the vertical lines, not related to composition? -what really is the true meaning behind his work? -why did he stick with the subjects of hotels and motels for so much of his career?
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