Gustav Deutsch, in the film Shirley, brought 13 of Edward Hopper's paintings to life and imparted each one of them with unique spirits.
Edward Hopper is widely acknowledged as the most important realist painter of twentieth-century America. But his vision of reality is a reflection of his temperament in the empty cityscapes, landscapes, and isolated figures he chose to paint. His work demonstrates that realism is not merely literal or photographic copying of what we see, but an interpretive rendering.
The recreation resonates with Hopper's interpretation of the real-life of Americans. Scenarios that Hopper chooses for depiction usually remind us of the bizarre world we are living in today. His figures, though appear in public places like a movie theatre and restaurants, seem to be at odds with the assumed situations in reality. Either looking away into blankness or being hiding from the crowds, their expressions and positions suggest a detachment of reality and infinite retreat to the world of solitude. Those images do not give an accurate account of the reality, but rather present the façade of it.
Take this painting, for instance, a woman sitting in front of the stage looks rather absent-minded. The physical presence gives no trace of mental engagement. The strong sense of detachment is highlighted in the woman's solitude. Supposed to be a bustling public place, the theatre is nevertheless devoid of audience. The only audience, the reticent woman, with her emotionless expression, renders this place essentially abandoned. Hopper's story is always wrapped in solitude, even though scenarios like "a lovely afternoon tea in the golden shining sunlight" can be tinged with a feeling of solitude.
Two ladies sitting by the window have their "catch-ups". It should have been a jovial talk, while we could not perceive the facial expression of the lady in purple, we notice that her friend seems rather blank-faced. Rather than saying she is preoccupied, she looks more like having lost her soul. She is sitting there like a piece of wood. Unable to deliver any trace of movement, the physical stillness suggests a mental absence——she is in there but merely remains as a body of skin, devoid of substance.
Hopper's paintings are not without content. The situations that he presents are very precise, giving a clear account of what is going on in that given circumstance. However, nothing essential is told in his paintings. The true story seems always hidden and unknown.
In a way, he is more like an experienced suspense storyteller rather than a traditional painter. For the latter aims to reveal the unseen and gives an insight into the unknown. Hopper is good at hiding things and unfolding the story in a loom of mystery. It is from the mists of undefined reality that we transcend to the psychic world. The psychic world, like Camus, said, is absurd. We never fully understand the world in relation to ourselves, despite we are part of the inscrutable. This is what we always perceive in Hopper's narrative——the stiff gestures, the numb face, and glassy-eyed figures reflecting the predicament we face as humans.
"We are rational beings with a strong desire to create order and clarity, and give meaning to life, while we are part of an irrational and indifferent universe. The response of such a universe to the human cry for meaning is nothing more than silence."
In contrast to Hopper's s portraits of the world of absurdity, Nigel's perspective of reality is centered around voyeur. Therefore, instead of being a storyteller, he plays cleverly as a voyeur who seems to be observing the world through a peephole. His paintings remind us that we are essentially observers secretly peeping at others' lives, regardless of the many roles that we are playing in society. We are unconscious of our observant behaviors when we are in public, while we are always practicing observing others. Those short moments of observation account for how we perceive the world around us. And it determines how we build our relationship with our surroundings. While hopper brings about the shadowy aspects of our lives, Nigel's perspective renders us self-conscious, containing sensual implications confronting us in the deepest yearning of our hearts.
In this following painting, a nude is lying languidly on the beach bathed in the brilliance of golden shine. She seems to be fidgeting something in her hands and sinking totally into sheer oblivion. The environment occurs to be rather bizarre since no one is present except the woman. It looks like a corner of the world that remains a virgin against the vulgarity of the secular world. Therefore, she strips herself of the "social" cloth so that she comes to be true to herself——she is no longer subject to others' eyes. It is in her world that she encounters herself. Nonetheless, the woman might think she has chosen a place where she can embrace freedom in her solitude, while she is not aware that the painter has placed her in public exposure. While observing her, we have an impression that we have intruded in the woman's privacy and cannot help feeling rather self-conscious.
Many of Nigel's paintings are tinged with sensual provocations since he never evades physical exposure. We relish the moment of seeing, regardless of feeling self-conscious confronting Nigel's paintings. Because we have always been curious about others' behaviors, our surroundings, and above all ourselves.
Indeed, while Hopper's approach to solitude is to depict human's inner world, Nigel's version of solitude lies in his observation, from which our self-awareness starts to emerge. It is in the observation that we recognize ourselves and in the same way that we conceive the idea of the human world.
Through observing others we begin to realize ourselves in the eyes of others. After all, as Sartre says, we are the being-for-Others. Our self emerges only when we see ourselves as others. Being a voyeur is to find meanings that associate with me, like Camus says "what can a meaning outside my condition mean to me?" Nigel's painting expresses the connection he has with the world. This connection sometimes occurs to be unique and personal.
"Walking the dog" explicitly gives an account of his way of approaching the word, as Nigel said:
I sent this painting to my gallery in NY. I titled the picture 'Walking the Dog,' the title refers to a maneuver done with a Yo-Yo. My dealer, who had never played with a Yo-Yo said to me, "I have been scratching my head and looking everywhere in this picture, where's the dog?"
By putting the title "walking the dog" Nigel is not addressing a situation, but attempts to focus on the man who is casually sitting on the table, paying Yo-Yo. Though remaining in the dim corner of the room, Nigel is having a virtual conversation with the Yo-Yo man. Since he pays close attention to his play, while everyone ignores him. For others, this Yo-Yo man is merely one of those ordinary people, but for Nigel, he is so special that without a word he knows him as a congenial old mate. From the looking of this Yo-Yo man, he seems to encounter himself in a way that is not comprehensive to the rest of the world. This is the way Nigel communicates with this world. He intends to reveal the immensely special but seemingly ordinary world.
This revelation further defines the meaning of realism. Realism comes not only as a genre but as an enlightenment of life. Realistic paintings are not only for presenting the scenes we are familiar with but for bringing back these moments that we are inclined to ignore.
