Edward Hopper
Night Shadows
1921
Not on view
Date
1921
Classification
Prints
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet (irregular): 13 5/16 × 14 1/2in. (33.8 × 36.8 cm) Plate: 6 7/8 × 8 1/4in. (17.5 × 21 cm)
Accession number
70.1048
Edition
Final state
Credit line
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Josephine N. Hopper Bequest
Rights and reproductions
© Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper/Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
From 1915 to 1923, Edward Hopper concentrated on printmaking, producing etchings and drypoints while also supporting himself as a commercial artist and illustrator. Although Hopper was still relatively unknown as a painter during this period, his prints began to earn him recognition. In this nocturnal scene, Night Shadows, he uses linear strokes of etched line to portray a patch of raking light on an otherwise dark, nearly empty street. With its unusual vantage point suggesting a view out of an upper-story window, the composition emphasizes the vulnerability of the lone passerby and assumes a voyeuristic, even ominous tone. Like many of Hopper’s works, Night Shadows presents modern life as pervaded by a sense of solitude and alienation.
