A painter of the everyday life of the American middle classes, Edward Hopper (1882-1967) used his canvases, watercolours and engravings to depict the architecture, solitude and atmosphere of a society in the throes of change. Some of the lighting in his paintings - particularly the neon lights in bars and flats - seems strongly influenced by the Hollywood cinema of the 1930s and 1940s, although the artist never claimed this.
The exhibition, which also features preparatory drawings, brings together more than 160 works, including his most famous paintings. Not to be missed are Girlie Show (1941), in which a naked woman tries to arouse men's desire with a blue veil; Pennsylvania Coal Town (1947), the isolation of a man raking outside his house in a small Pennsylvania mining town; and Second Story Sunlight (1960), expressing the happiness of a woman in a bikini sunbathing on her terrace. Quite simply, America.
From 16 February to 13 June. Museo Fondazione Roma > Via del Corso, 320 - Internet : www.museodelcorso.it
