orplid: Edward Hopper (American, 1882-1967) - ‘Excursion into Philosophy’, 1959In Excurs
orplid: Edward Hopper (American, 1882-1967) - ‘Excursion into Philosophy’, 1959In Excursion into Philosophy Hopper counters Plato’s mere shadows with a block of light which pictures itself and which symbolizes the potential of understanding (illumination). The man in the painting seems to be questioning the idea of light versus an actual beam of it and the idea of beauty versus the presence of the voluptuous female on the bed beside him. Jo [Hopper’s wife] recorded cryptically, “The open book is Plato, re-read too late,” leaving one to consider the dilemma puzzling this man who stares into an almost abstract patch of light on the floor. The woman beside him seems to be a modern, young, and very sexy muse as well as the man’s lover. One wonders if Hopper has attempted to condense the question of light, which occurs in so many of his works, into the Platonic argument. In his story about Socrates and the cave, Plato compares works of art to the shadows cast by ordinary objects that in themselves are only pale reflections of the true reality which is the realm of ideas. —from ‘Edward Hopper’, by Robert Hobbs -- source link