Automat (painting)

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Automat
Edward Hopper, 1927
Oil on canvas
71.4 × 91.4 cm, 28 × 36 inches
Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines

Automat (1927) is a painting by Edward Hopper which portrays a lone woman staring into a cup of coffee in an automat late at night. Art critics often cite the work as an example of urban alienation. The reflection of identical rows of light fixtures stretch out through the night-blackened window. Like many of Hopper's melancholic subjects, "the woman's eyes are downcast and her thoughts turned inward." ^[1] The pose is reminiscent of Edgar Degas's L'Absinthe.

[edit] Trivia

Automat was used as the cover of Time Magazine for its August 28, 1995 issue. The cover story was about stress and depression in the 20th century.