What does it mean to be alone? What does it feel like to be alone? In their entirety, these questions are too big to answer, but they certainly invite some introspection. In the cases of Caspar David Friedrich and Edward Hopper, however, these questions aroused a bit more than some lighthearted introspection; Friedrich and Hopper both dedicated significant portions of their careers to painting solitary figures, each with their own interpretations of what it means to be alone. Friedrich, a staple of the Romantic movement in Germany during the early nineteenth century, placed many of his solitary figures in the context of the sublime (i.e. staggering wonder and terror of nature). Like many of his poetic contemporaries, Friedrich suggested that the solitary individual finds liberation, empowerment, and authenticity by being on their own. Hopper, on the other hand, entered the chaotic world of American art during the mid-twentieth century as a sort of Realist painter, focusing on painting everyday figures and scenes as they actually were. His figures are placed in modern, industrialized contexts, usually in restaurants, hotels, or office buildings. Many critics suggest that his works emphasize the estrangement of the individual because of modernized society, that to be alone means loneliness and depression.
Note, in the following pairs of paintings, how the ideas of aloneness are juxtaposed between Friedrich and Hopper. Although their form and content vary, Friedrich emphasizes the empowerment and contentment of the solitary figure in sublime landscapes, while Hopper emphasizes the estrangement and loneliness of the solitary figure in modern cityscapes.
David Caspar Friedrich, The Monk by the Sea, 1808/1810, Oil on canvas, 67.5” x 43”, National Gallery, State Museums in Berlin. From www.artsandculture.google.com
The Monk by the Sea, one of Friedrich's most famous works, shows a vast landscape of land, sea, and sky. The clouds hover like a great abyss, as if one great shadow overtook the horizon. Everything seems infinite, completely unbounded by everything except the edge of the canvas. And there, in nature's magnitude, stands a tiny, solitary monk. Undoubtedly, the monk is engaging in some type of spiritual activity. Amid the all-encompassing sky he must feel small, but there he stands, able to take it all in. Had it not been for his bald head against the water, he would have been barely distinguishable. Friedrich certainly indicates a sense of tininess for the individual, and yet, he is not overtaken.
Edward Hopper, Manhattan Bridge Loop, 1928, Oil on canvas, 35" x 60", Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy. From www.edwardhopper.net
Manhattan Bridge Loop features the architecture behind the Manhattan Bridge in New York City. In the foreground is a long sidewalk, upon which a solitary figure mosies along. His top half is barely illuminated because of the wall, and his figure casts a long shadow against the ground. Even though Hopper chose to make this painting quite wide, and by doing so increasing the mass of the sidewalk, the man is still alone and actually fairly close to the edge; nobody else inhabits a space that should normally be filled. Had the man any desire to look at the city, his view would have been blocked by the large wall to his right; not only is he alone in his own space, the sidewalk, he does not have the option to look for people in another space, the city.
David Caspar Friedrich, Woman Before the Rising Sun (Woman Before the Setting Sun), 1818, Oil on canvas, 8.6” x 12”, Museum Folkwang. From www.artsandculture.google.com
The title of this painting is debated; some call it "Woman Before the Rising Sun," while others claim it to be "Woman Before the Setting Sun." The symbolic implications of this painting rely heavily on which title is chosen, however, the painting still reveals much on its own. The woman, most likely to be Friedrich's wife, Caroline, stands boldly in the center of the painting. The silhouette of her head and shoulders are stark against the golden backdrop, eliciting a type of halo. With arms slightly raised, her posture is that of an early Christian in prayer, and some scholars have interpreted the painting in terms of a communion with nature. Facing away from the viewer, hiding her identity, she allows onlookers to join her in receiving the empowering rays of the hidden sun.
Edward Hopper, A Woman in the Sun, 1961, Oil on linen, 40" x 60", Whitney Museum of American Art. From www.edwardhopper.net
A Woman in the Sun shows a nude female near the center of a bedroom. The woman, modeled by Hopper's wife, Josephine, stands in a shaft of light sent by a window. The sunlight illuminates her figure and emotionless face. The bedroom is quite bare, and the landscape outside of another window shows simple rolling hills. As she looks out into the sunlight with thinly opened eyelids, she smokes a cigarette in her right hand. Though Hopper chose to illuminate her formally and visually, she is not a figure that evokes much appeal, either sexually or emotionally; her facial expression indicates resignation and her smoking hand indicates disinterest. By showing the woman's face, Hopper gave viewers a specific portrayal of an actual woman rather than an abstract, identity-less figure.
David Caspar Friedrich, Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog, 1818, Oil on canvas, 37.3” x 29.4”, Kunsthalle Hamburg. From www.wikipedia.org
Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog shows a man standing on the edge of a rocky cliff facing a landscape of dense fog. The figure's back is facing the viewer, once again allowing those who look at him to enter into his field of vision and imagine themselves to be looking across the misty overlook. True to Romantic style, this painting highlights the sublime, and puts the individual at a curious position within it. On the one hand, the wanderer stands powerfully, looking over the landscape with a sense of mastery. On the other hand, the individual's position could lead to feelings of insignificance and smallness. To avoid speculation, what is certain about this piece is that Friedrich places the figure prominently in the center; the solitary man is the focal point of the painting, and his posture is of confidence and comfort as he overlooks the sublime.
Edward Hopper, Office in a Small City, 1953, Oil on linen, 28" x 40", The Metropolitan Museum of Art. From www.metmuseum.org
Office in a Small City depicts a man sitting at a desk in the corner of a concrete building. He has a clear view of the city around him (most likely New York City) because of the two massive windows, and so the space is opened up for him and the viewer. And yet, he seems to be confined within the concrete walls of his own building, as if Hopper was distinctly separating the foreground from the background visually. The figure's face is expressionless, not giving any indications of his internal state. Even if Hopper had added other figures in the distant background, the solitary figure would have only been able to see them and not interact with them.
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