Edward Hopper’s subtle observations of American life made him a pivotal figure in the development of American art. Hopper lived in and around New York City his entire life and his relationship with the city had a profound impact on his art. He began his career studying at the New York School of Art and Design with William Merritt Chase and Robert Henri, and exhibited in the 1913 Armory Show. Unable to make a living with his oil paintings, Hopper relied on work as a freelance commercial artist and printmaker for the next decade, though he continued to paint in both oil and watercolor.
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In 1923, he was reacquainted with artist Josephine Nivison, who secured a spot for six of his watercolors in a show at the Brooklyn Museum. The museum purchased The Mansard Roof for its collection and Hopper was soon selling and exhibiting regularly. Edward and Jo married in 1924 and she became his muse and manager, helping her solitary and introverted husband advance his career. Jo was a skilled watercolor painter and the two often painted together outdoors. She was also the sole model for Hopper’s female figures.
New York Restaurant was painted during a time when Hopper was still struggling for recognition and success. He spoke of this painting in a letter to the Muskegon Museum of Art dated January 9, 1937:
"The picture 'New York Restaurant' was painted about 1922 — not later at any rate. In a specific and concrete sense, the idea was to attempt to make visual the crowded glamour of a New York restaurant during the noon hour. I am hoping that ideas less easy to define have, perhaps, crept in also."
While the scene is crowded, the woman in the red hat seems removed and distant, uninvolved with the man who sits with her, a suggestion of the sense of isolation that would come to characterize the artist’s most famous works.