Les Deux Pigeons

In Edward Hopper's etching Les Deux Pigeons, a man and a woman seated on his lap romantically cuddle like "two pigeons" on the terrace of an outdoor café. Locked in their embrace, they are oblivious to the scenic river vista that fills the right half of the image. A uniformed soldier and a bearded gentleman seated together at an adjacent table ignore the lovers, but the waiter standing nearby casts a knowing glance in their direction. Based on Hopper's memory of a scene he had observed in France more than a decade earlier, this etching reflects the inspiration of café scenes depicted by European and American artists in the late nineteenth century, such as Willard Metcalf's Au Café (TF 1992.10). Like them, Hopper attempted in Les Deux Pigeons to capture publicly displayed intimacy. This work is unusual for the artist, however, for he rarely depicted people physically interacting with each other.

In 1915, artist and illustrator Martin Lewis taught Hopper the rudiments of etching technique, which he then diligently pursued on his own. By 1918, Hopper had achieved proficiency in the medium, and he began to make prints displaying a compositional vigor honed by the discipline of drawing in a style using primarily distinct lines rather than shading, or tones, to suggest the contours of objects. In 1920, the year he made this print, Hopper had his first solo exhibition of paintings at New York's Whitney Studio Club (the predecessor of the Whitney Museum of American Art), which included a number of paintings he had made in Paris. Thereafter, more confident in his individual voice and American identity, Hopper increasingly pictured the distinctly American urban and rural scenes that eventually brought him success. Like East Side Interior (TF 1994.22), this impression bears the address of Hopper's New York City home on Washington Square, where he lived from 1913 until his death.

L'héroïque et le quotidien: les artistes américains, 1820–1920 (The Extraordinary and the Everyday: American Perspectives, 1820–1920), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–November 30, 2001. [exh. cat.]

Edward Hopper: les années parisiennes, 1906–1910 (Edward Hopper: The Paris Years, 1906–1910), Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–July 4, 2004. [exh. cat.]

Le Temps des loisirs : peintures américaines (At Leisure: American Paintings), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, July 15–October 31, 2007.Edward Hopper and Guy Pène du Bois: Painting the Real. 511 Projects, New York, New York (organizer). Venue: Polk Museum of Art at Florida Southern College, Lakeland, Florida, December 17, 2022–March 26, 2023