Isolation in Hopper's "Sunlight in a Cafeteria"
Over the countless times I’ve been to Yale University’s Art Gallery, I’ve fallen in love with numerous pieces and artists. One of such artists is the American painter Edward Hopper, whose portraits of seemingly mundane events, with just a tinge of existential dread and underlying pessimism has enthralled me from the time I laid my eyes on a piece of his in the collection. With this deep love for everything Edward Hopper did in his career, my time at the gallery was relatively underwhelming, as I wasn’t so much looking for any art piece to analyze and decrypt as I was looking for a Hopper piece to delve into heavily. From the moment I saw the painting, “Sunlight in a Cafeteria”, I knew that would be the particular piece I would be choosing. As of late, I have been interested in the phenomenon of feeling alone while in a vibrant landscape and with other people, and that’s exactly what the piece showcases. “Sunlight in a Cafeteria” only contains two figures, one man and one woman...