Allan B. Jones

"Self portrait" (1991), by Allan B. Jones

(click on painting for larger image)

Automat

"Automat" (1927), by Edward Hopper

This is my favorite Edward Hopper image, and as you may know, I have a large version of it in my study. It was used by TIME magazine for a cover story on depression (August 28, 1995), but I don't associate Hopper's work with being sad or melancholy (as he said, "The loneliness thing is overdone"). In much of his art, Hopper seems to convey that human solitude can also be necessary, liberating, and even tranquil.

I fondly remember a conversation I had with Allan Jones, the painter. We were trying to figure out why Hopper's work often seemed to express a void or a vacuum. Allan pointed out that what many of these paintings are missing is the viewer himself. For example, here Hopper gives you an empty chair to sit in, if you want. Wouldn't you like to come in and be quiet for a while?