Image: Edward Hopper, Cape Cod Morning (1950).
On Saturdays, we like to highlight a piece of art. With the big museums opening at the end of this week, we are putting the focus on this Edward Hopper from the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
A year ago, as we sunk into the reality of the situation, many mentioned Hopper as the artist of loneliness and isolation. In fact, two of those stories used this picture to capture the sense of longing while being inside a house. Now it can be seen in a different light. It evokes coming out of isolation to greet the day and probably other people. It seemed appropriate for the moment when we are the cusp of more robust social interactions.
The Museum offers this background:
“In Cape Cod Morning, a woman looks out a bay window, riveted by something beyond the pictorial space. She is framed by tall, dark shutters and the shaded façade of the oriel window. The brilliant sunlight on the side of the house contrasts with the blue sky, trees, and golden grass that fill the right half of the canvas. The painting tells no story; instead, the woman’s tense pose creates a sense of anxious anticipation, and the bifurcated image implies a dichotomy between her interior space and the world beyond.”
Anxious anticipation indeed.
The Smithsonian, along with the National Gallery, opens on the 14th with timed passes.
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On most days of the week the things we are focused on beyond our window is the world of D.C. dining. If you are making your way downtown – or to D.C. – and looking for a great place to eat, then we have some ideas. Our dining guide as 300 recommended restaurants. We have kept it updated (the best we could) as to the current status of each restaurant. You can sort by cuisine, neighborhood, and current operating status (dine-in and/or take-out, etc.) in either LIST or MAP format.
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