All of these events contribute to the eventual completion of A Woman in the Sun in 1961. In turn, these events are key to understanding an analysis of the painting. To begin with Hopper’s Nighthawks, a work that dealt him a hand of great fame, he clearly knew of his own talent when depicting feelings of solitude. We can draw similarities between it and A Woman in the Sun. Very little light is shown in both pieces. Our central subjects are surrounded by an unnerving darkness, or at the very least, cooler colors. The vacant street in Nighthawks and the vacant room in Woman in the Sun speak to this isolation interpretation of both. What light is there is featured on the subjects of the respective paintings, highlighting them and, in turn, their feelings. This is where we can turn to the two people directly responsible for Woman in the Sun; Edward and Josephine Hopper themselves. As I mentioned before, their marriage was rough. Not only was it rough, but it was hard in general because their personalities did not necessarily mesh well. We can see this through Ed’s sketches of Jo alone; rather than talking to his wife about the basis behind the argument, he does a cheeky sketch for her to potentially start another argument. This lack of communication in any relationship, romantic or not, leads to feelings of isolation. In this case, it is fair to say that the artist, Ed, had feelings of isolation regarding this marriage, as did the subject, Jo. This is part of the point behind the feelings of solitude behind this painting; the unfulfilling marriage, which at this point, had lasted for nearly forty years. To draw on Edward Hopper himself a tad more, to help us understand this painting, we can revisit the rise of abstract expressionism during the latter years of his life. While Hopper’s realism still had its place, abstract expressionism was rearing its head in more and more as the years went by. Hopper saw his style being phased out and felt discouraged in the art world, a world which he dominated in the decades prior, with Nighthawks and other works. Some sources say that his wife did indeed need to help him out of depressive bouts of apathy towards art. This is, ultimately, what A Woman in the Sun comes down to...it is a commentary of Edward Hopper himself. It is the mental space of an older man, just mere years away from death, based on events derived from his own life; his unfruitful marriage and his once popular of artform slowly dwindling in the favor of a more experimental style. 

MLA Citations 

“Clyfford Still - 1957-D-No. 1.” Buffalo AKG Art Museum, 2 Oct. 2016, buffaloakg.org/artworks/k195926-1957-d-no-1.  

Hopper, Edward. “Edward Hopper: A Woman in the Sun.” Edward Hopper | A Woman in the Sun | Whitney Museum of American Art, whitney.org/collection/works/1337. Accessed 25 Mar. 2024. 

Lynge, Claire. “A Woman in the Sun: Josephine Nivison Hopper.” Confluence, NYU Gallatin, 21 Feb. 2023, confluence.gallatin.nyu.edu/context/first-year-writing-seminar/a-woman-in-the-sun-josephine-nivison-hopper.   

May, Stephen. “Scenes from Edward Hopper’s Marriage.” ARTnews.Com, ARTnews.com, 10 Mar. 2014, www.artnews.com/art-news/news/scenes-from-edward-hoppers-marriage-2390/.  

McColl, Sarah. “Jo Hopper, Woman in the Sun.” The Paris Review, 26 Feb. 2018, www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/02/26/jo-hopper-woman-sun-woman-shadow/.  

Murphy, Jessica. “Edward Hopper (1882–1967).” The Met, 1 June 2007, www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/hopp/hd_hopp.htm.  

Sidelnikova, Yevheniia. “Love Story in Paintings: Edward Hopper and Josephine Nivison.” Arthive, Artsmarts, 12 Sept. 2020, arthive.com/publications/4409~Love_story_in_paintings_edward_hopper_and_josephine_nivison.  

Zappella, Christine. “Wartime Alienation, Hopper’s Nighthawks.” Smarthistory, 24 Sept. 2018, smarthistory.org/seeing-america-2/nighthawks-sa/.