Approaching a City

Artist: Edward Hopper
Painting: Approaching a city, 1946

Description of the picture:
The painting contains a detailed view of an outskirt of the city from a railway. In the middle of the picture, there is a white wall which cuts through the composition then bends to the left. Behind from this white wall, there are some blocks of buildings arising. Apart from yellowish concrete blocks, particularly one narrow and tall building is eyecatching first for it’s colour which is reddish orange, secondly for it’s style and windows in detailed painting. Some curtins are half open, some othe curtins are closed on the windows. And then a grey and shorter stone building next to it with two chimneys on the dark tiled roof.

At the front of the painting, which is also front of the white wall there are railways with it’s brown-reddish colour of slipers, these railways give a deepening feeling to the picture. Railway lines comes from the bending end of the wall and wide opens at the front of the painting. There is also a dark shady object on the railways at the bending end of the wall which looks like a boat, but I can’t quite work it out that what it is. (Note: It is the tunnel on the railway of course, but I was looking at the picture so closely that couldn't work out the tunnel and just saw it as a shade. How silly...)

My feelings and the reaction to the picture:
I don’t like the first feeling of it. Not having a painting of any living creature in this picture, makes me feel that it is a painting of a deserted city after a dangerous disease spread amongs the human or a chemical bomb attack happened days ago.

If I was painting it, I would add some weeds growing by the side of the railway, a few people on the top of the grey buildings looking at the view, graffitis on the wall, a few birds in the distant sky and maybe a street dog or a rat that crossing the railway... So, it can be a little bit lively and warm view than it is on the painting. In this picture, the only thing I liked is orange-reddish building. It has got a character on the windowsills and on the where roof joins to the tof of the building. I also like the short grey stone building that reminds me of stone countryside houses in where I live at the moment. So, the familiarity is something that makes me like or dislike a picture.

I would quite like living in the reddish-orange building if it was in somewhere else, not next to a railway and a cold looking grey building blocks which might be offices to the high fliers.