In the Loupe - I have been thinking about Edward Hopper’s porch...

23rd January 2012

Photoset reblogged from R. SCOUT with 7 notes

I have been thinking about Edward Hopper’s porch since the middle of last week, ever since we briefly discussed the origin of the word “stoicism” in my philosophy class. ”Stoicism” has as its base the Greek word “stoa,” meaning, basically, porch (here is the Wikipedia entry on “stoa”). Our professor pointed out how the porch is a place that is a hybrid of both a private space (it’s attached to your house, a private space) and a public space (other people can see you on your porch); the metaphor could also be extended, I think, to symbolize the space between civilization and wilderness—something I think Hopper recognized and captured perfectly in both of these paintings. (Admittedly, the second painting is not a porch, but it was the image I first thought of—my flawed memory remembered it as a porch…)

Source: referencescout