Eleven AM

Eleven Am is a painting that was created by American artist Edward Hopper in 1926. The painting depicts a solitary woman clasping her hands as she leans forward and looks out of the window.

It is clear that the woman is seated in a living room of an apartment from the furniture and she appears to be waiting for someone. The colours of the painting are rather muted and help to give it a rather moody feel.

One of the things that sets Eleven Am apart from many of the other works of art by Edward Hopper from this period is the fact that the subject is naked apart from her shoes.

In most of Hopper's paintings the subjects can be seen in full formal attire. However, like most of his other subjects, the woman is facing away from the viewer and appears to be rather aloof and her nakedness is hidden by her hair to help provide her with dignity.

Solitary women appear in many other major works of art by Edward Hopper including the masterpiece Automat where a woman sits alone at a table and New York Movie, where a woman stands at the side of a cinema rather than joining the rest of the audience who are seated watching the film.

Many critics have suggested that this represents the isolation of American life during this period and the fact that many people felt that they were alone even when they were in a crowded room.

In Eleven AM the woman’s face is hidden by her hair and this helps to create the feeling of mystery.

As the viewer is told that this is indeed eleven in the morning, it may seem like a rather unlikely time of the day to be posing in this way and the more the viewer looks at the painting, the more questions they may be faced with, such as who is the woman and what exactly is she doing?