Elementary Art Vocabulary Words

Submitted by: Maggie Tucker, Brentwood Middle School, Brentwood Tennessee
7th Grade Student Example: Edward Hopper, Tables for Ladies
7th Grade Student Essay – Paragraph form – Edward Hopper, Tables for Ladies
http://www.mystudios.com/art

Art Final: Art Criticism

 

1.  Artist: Edward Hooper
Title: Tables for Ladies
Year Produced: 1930
Media: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 122x153cm

 

2.  What type of artwork do you consider this painting? Why?

Art as Expression. Hopper was attempting to display the dredges of life, loneliness, isolation, and lack of variety. Everyday this waitress goes to work, and she takes people's orders. There is no variety, and she barely has any time to talk to anyone.

 

Hopper painted many such paintings designed to show the loneness of people. You cannot see the person in the foreground's face, but the person in the background is very sad and gloomy. She looks like this is the last thing in the world she wants to be doing.

 

3.  Description

What is happening? A waitress is at work.
Where is it happening? At a restaurant.
When is it happening?

a.     Time of day? Dinnertime

b.     Time of year? Summer, spring-the people are wearing short sleeves.

4.     Analysis

a.     Name the type of art movement Hopper belonged to: Realist tradition.

How did this influence his work? Hopper designed the art to focus on things that the Realist traditionists (traditionalists) thought.

 

Did anything happen in his life that may have influenced his work? Yes, he lived in New York City, he may have longed for a more isolated life, or may be arguing that isolated lives are bad.

 

b.    Did Hopper use rules of perspective drawing? Yes, it is in drawn in two point perspective. (Ex. The oranges go to one point while the tables go to another) Objects get less detailed as they go toward the vanishing points. All lines go to vanishing points/up and down/sideways.

 

4.    What is the real meaning behind the painting?

As mentioned in number two, Hooper was trying to show how dreary and boring life can be at times. The waitress in the picture does not have an interesting life, and probably just puts one foot in front of the other each day, whereas the men in the background eating dinner, are probably wealthy businessmen that make important decisions each day. I think this painting was designed to show A. the waitress's misery, and B. The contrast between interesting persons (Ex. Business people) and boring persons (Waitress and counter-person).

 

5.   Do you think the artist succeeded in what he was trying to accomplish?

 

Yes and no. I think the artist succeeded, but it was not obvious to me at first. I did not realize the mood of the painting until I looked at things such as the lights (which are dark), the expressions on peoples faces (sad), and other such things. I also think this could have been more accurately displayed as another scene such as the streets of New York City.