UNSW Architectural Design Studio

Room & Narrative: Edward Hopper's "Evening Wind" (1921)

It is a startling scene, as the naked woman looks quickly away from the viewer, turning to peer out the open window where a stiff breeze has pushed the billowing curtain aside. Hopper wants us to believe that he has caught the woman in Evening Wind in the nude — as she climbs into an unmade bed, she is surprised, and suddenlt modest as the wind pushes aside the curtain to reveal her bared skin. However, this woman is entirely unclothed before a large window; and in reality she must surely recognize the possibility of her exposure. Furthermore, to compose this image, our artist must be in the room with his subject. Therefore this is a scene, staged to look genuine.

Even with this seemingly staged scene, the etching is nevertheless compelling; a mysterious lady bare before a window, the artist and viewer gazing upon them from inside the same room. The woman keeping her eyes averted towards the outside, avoids our direct gaze, but this does not mean that she is unaware of being watched. However, when we strip away issues of nakedness, voyeurism, lurid sexuality and even the hypothetical context of the etching, the raw emotions of longing and playful tease are still conveyed to the observer.

These two concepts; that of a longing and the enjoyment of a tease, form the basis of the simple narrative:

"A pristine retreat for a reclusive writer who longs to be inspired by nature but is offered only teasing glimpses of its embrace."

posted by Chris @ 6:29 PM