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Edward Hopper’s paintings have long been beloved, but during quarantine, they have seemed suddenly new again. His isolated figures and emptied streets seem like uncanny snapshots of real life. And with summer upon us, Hopper’s 1952 painting Morning Sun strikes a particular chord—in fact, it’s been called it one of “the ultimate images of summer.”In it, a woman, modelled on the painter’s wife, Jo, is pictured in a…
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![Butterflies from China, Japan, and Corea: “Biodiversity Library”:http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/45490916 Texture: “Kerstin Frank”:https://www.flickr.com/photos/kerstinfrank-design/9181048645/in/photostream/ Flowers: “Rijksmuseum”:https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/my/collections/150967--sarah-vernon/mijn-eerste-verzameling/objecten#/SK-A-3899,0 Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com]](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/e309blog.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "‘Happiness is a Butterfly’")
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![Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com] Vintage Henry Irving and Ellen Terry as Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing from The Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/97514042/ The background is a blend of the interior of The Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace in 1851 from an old encyclopaedia — the venue was originally built in Hyde Park and the exhibition was organised by Prince Albert and Henry Cole — and textures from “2 Lil’ Owls”:http://2lilowls.com. http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/g/great-exhibition/](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/e284blog.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "Beatrice and Benedick")
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![Original & vintage art © First Night Design [www.firstnightdesign.wordpress.com] Green-painted fence https://unsplash.com/photos/FxeeNx_yMpw Lake Annecy by Mindy Sommers Celestial Eruption by eberhard grossgasteiger on Unsplash https://unsplash.com/photos/NvesrDbsrL4](https://firstnightdesign.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/v057fb.jpg?w=159&h=159&crop=1 "Valentine Blush")
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August 6, 2020 at 09:28
beth
i had no idea, and it really fills in some blanks. until the last paragraph, it seemed like a mutually positive relationship and then – it explains a lot about this
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August 6, 2020 at 10:17
olganm
Now I want to see some of his wife’s paintings. Fascinating article. Thanks for sharing it, Sarah. I hope you are well.
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August 6, 2020 at 12:02
Mary Smith
That was a really interesting article. It makes me look at the painting in a totally different way. I wonder what Jo’s paintings are like.
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August 6, 2020 at 13:12
Ken Dowell
Wouldn’t it be brilliant to reopen an art museum with an exhibition of Hopper’s paintings and title it “social distancing.”
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August 6, 2020 at 14:37
hitandrun1964
Wow. He criticized her and “forbid” her to show her works. I don’t feel the same way about him any longer.
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August 7, 2020 at 18:49
chattykerry
I love this and it feels very ‘now’.
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August 8, 2020 at 13:27
Jennie
How interesting! A showing of Hopper’s art would certainly parallel Covid. Thank you, Sarah.
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August 8, 2020 at 19:52
First Night Design
Thanks to all of you for your comments.
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August 10, 2020 at 02:39
Silver Screenings
Whoa! His images seem so timely now!
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