The negative/ un-detalied space in the background further add to this because the eye simply passes over them and focuses more on the details presented. The balance is held across the middle section of the painting with there being more un-detailed areas just above the eye line of sight, these areas are marked with rougher brush marks. The composition of Chop Suey further encompasses Hopper’s concept memory as opposed to complete realism. The viewer interprets her to be 'spacing out' or listening un-intently rather than making eye contact and interacting with the viewer, as if she is not focused on her surroundings. But Hopper negates that by making the woman’s face the same value of white as other blank features in the background, thus hollowing-out her human essence.

Normally in context with the style of the era (late 1920s), this could be taken as a trendy and lively style, 'the women's tight-fitting sweaters, cloche hats, and made-up faces, which in a previous era would have marked them as sexually available, had become mainstream'. The alabaster skin with the bold rouge and painted lip suggest only the impression of a woman, similar to a doll. This further applies to the woman in detail even though we get a full view of her face there is a detachment to her because of her stark makeup. This is portrayed with hidden or obscured faces, retracting a human essence from the figures. Every human figure is isolated and withdrawn from one another and reserved within themselves. As with the couple in the background, the man looks withdrawn from the woman he sits across from. The woman in green facing the viewer is sitting with her companion but she does not seem to be interacting with her. Īlthough the scene of the painting takes place in a social environment there is the sense of loneliness prevalent. Renner, author of Hopper states that '…part of what pictures are 'about' is that death or decay which all paintings in some sense represent, since they destroy the immediacy of perception through the transformation into an image'. As with many of Hopper's works, the painting features close attention to the effects of light on his subjects.īy detailing only the sensory iconography, the painting takes a step back from pure realism, as if by painting the complete memory one would destroy the fine details that make it actively realistic. The painting has an interior subject matter, being inside of a cafe, and does not focus on any one given figure. Chop Suey captures this concept of memory, making the viewer focus on particular elements of sensory iconography whilst depicting a theme of isolation due to self being.Īccording to art scholar David Anfam, one 'striking detail of Chop Suey is that its female subject faces her doppelgänger.' Others have pointed out it would not be so unusual for two women to be wearing similar hats, and that it is presumptuous to claim doppelgängers when one subject's face is not visible to the viewer.

This idea could further be described in another way as when, for example, something is drawn from a personal memory, certain details can be remembered but everything outside the primary focus is blank background. He often described his art as a 'transcription most intimate impressions of nature', meaning he related the process of painting to that of memory.

These are all features that would bring a sensory element (besides sight) to the memory painted: the buzzing noise of the outside light, the voices of the people in the background, the texture of the coat, the taste of the tea and smell of the cigarette smoke (held by the man), and the muddled light from the masked window.Įdward Hopper’s artwork is known for its realistic scenes that touch themes of isolation and self-being rather than a narrative context. The only features being shown in particular detail are the painted woman’s face, the coat hanging above her, her companion’s back, the features of the couple in the background, the tea pot on the table, the masked lower window panel, and the restaurant sign outside. The scene depicts two women at a table in a restaurant with another couple in the background. In November 2018, it was sold at $92 million, a record price for the artist's work.

The foreground of the work portrays two women in conversation at a restaurant. Chop Suey (1929) is an oil painting on canvas by the American artist Edward Hopper.

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