我讨论爱德华·霍珀的绘画,目的不仅是为了清理自己对这些画作的思考,还想着纠正此前其他霍珀评论者的一些不正确的观点。为什么众多不同的人,面对霍珀都经历了极为相似的感动?人们写了很多,但都忽略了这个核心问题。我的相关探讨更多是从美学入手,看重其绘画层面,对其中的社会动力元素并无兴趣。无疑,霍珀描绘了一个和现实微有差异的世界。然而,仅从人们对二十世纪前半叶美国生活变化的满意或焦虑来解释多数观者的强烈反应,恐怕有些勉强。霍珀的绘画并非社会学文献,亦非不快的,或者其他同样用以 I discuss Edward Hopper’s paintings not only in order to clear my own thinking about those paintings, but also to correct some of the incorrect views previously made by other Hopper critics. Why do so many different people, have experienced a very similar move in the face of Hopper? People wrote a lot, but all overlooked this core issue. My related discussion is more from the aesthetics, focusing on the level of its painting, the elements of social motivation are not interested. No doubt, Hopper portrays a world that is slightly different from reality. However, I am afraid that there will be some reluctance to explain the strong reaction of the majority of observers only to the satisfaction or anxiety of the changes in American life in the first half of the twentieth century. Hopper’s paintings are not sociological literature, nor are they unpleasant, or others are equally used