Ard Hopper

“Automat” was painted by Edward Hopper in 1927. The painting was displayed for the first time on valentines day, and was sold for $1200.
The picture depicts a young woman sitting alone in some kind of cafeteria. She is drinking a cup of coffee, while she’s staring at her hot drink. She is dressed in a long warm winter coat, and a hat pulled down on her head. On her left hand she is wearing a glove, while holding the coffee cup in the right.
The painting method is oil on canvas. The colours in the painting are both dark and light, which makes the painting very cold. The background of the painting is the outside of the automat (a café with mechanical service) and is all black, and you can’t see what there is behind the large windows. In the windows you can only see the bright reflects of the lamps in the ceiling of the automat, which seems to be never ending the night. The inside of the cafeteria is being lightened by the bright lamps, which is the only light source in the painting. The light of the lamps is very harsh and bright and not cozy at all, which is typically for the type of lamps in automats. Because of Edwards colour choosing and the fact that the woman is hiding in a large green coat, indicates that the temperature inside the automat is low.

The woman’s facial expression makes her look sad, because of her tightened mouth and her eyes staring down at the table. As she sits without companionship she looks a bit afraid, which might be the reason she is seated at the table nearest the door, so she quickly can escape the cynical automat.
The black window behind the woman tells that she has dark past with terrible experiences and maybe some secrets she is hiding for her surroundings. This is supported by her loneliness in the painting; she is away from everyone else in the picture, though we might not if there is anybody else in the automat.
The perspective in the picture is very normal. When you look at the painting you almost feel that you’re a person standing in the automat, looking at the woman. She sits there all by herself and you start feeling empathy for her. Also the fact that the picture came out on Valentine’s Day makes you think about the strange woman’s night. Maybe she is sad because of a failed date or she just simply didn’t have any date this special day.
My poem:

While I’m sitting here wondering about everything feeling nothing, a huge emptiness inside me eating my feelings like a terrible monster the stranger in the corner are looking.
I can feel his eyes burning my skin reading my mind as it was an open book
I’m asking myself; is this a dream?
His my mind are answering me
“yes but no, this is an illusion of the reality”
“so yes but no”
“yes”