In Hopper’s Tables for Ladies, a waitress leans forward to adjust the vividly painted foods at the window as a couple sits quietly in the richly paneled and well-lit interior. A cashier attentively tends to business at her register. Though they appear weary and detached, these two women hold posts newly available to female city dwellers outside the home. The painting’s title alludes to a recent social innovation in which establishments advertised "tables for ladies" in order to welcome their newly mobile female customers, who, if seen dining alone in public previously, were assumed to be prostitutes.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Tables for Ladies
Artist:Edward Hopper (American, Nyack, New York 1882–1967 New York)
Date:1930
Medium:Oil on canvas
Dimensions:48 1/4 × 60 3/8 in. (122.6 x 153.4 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:George A. Hearn Fund, 1931
Accession Number:31.62
Inscription: Signed (lower right): EDWARD HOPPER
[Frank K. M. Rehn Gallery, New York, 1930–31; sold to MMA]
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Edward Hopper: Retrospective Exhibition," November 1–December 7, 1933, no. 15.
Pittsburgh. Carnegie Institute. "Edward Hopper: An Exhibition of Paintings, Water Colors and Etchings," March 11–April 25, 1937, no. 2.
Boston. Institute of Modern Art. "Ten Americans," October 20–November 21, 1943, no. 10.
Minneapolis. University Gallery, University of Minnesota. "American Paintings," May 22–July 1, 1944, no catalogue.
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "Edward Hopper Retrospective Exhibition," February 11–March 26, 1950, no. 37.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "Edward Hopper Retrospective Exhibition," April 13–May 14, 1950, no. 37.
Detroit Institute of Arts. "Edward Hopper Retrospective Exhibition," June 4–July 2, 1950, no. 37.
Los Angeles. Pan Pacific Auditorium. "National Construction Industries Home Show Exposition," June 14–24, 1951 [extended to August 31, 1951], no catalogue.
Norwich, Conn. Slater Memorial Museum. February 7–28, 1954, no catalogue.
Worcester Art Museum. "Five Painters of America," February 17–April 3, 1955, unnumbered cat.
Providence. Rhode Island School of Design. "Paintings by Hopper and Corbino," March 7–28, 1956, no catalogue.
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "Edward Hopper," September 29–November 29, 1964, no. 23.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Three Centuries of American Painting," April 9–October 17, 1965, unnum. checklist.
Bienal Internacional de São Paulo, Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo. "São Paulo 9, United States of America. Edward Hopper. Environment U. S. A., 1957–1967," September 22, 1967–January 8, 1968, no. 12.
Waltham, Mass. Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University. "Edward Hopper. Environment U. S. A., 1957–1967," February 26–March 31, 1968, no. 12.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "American Paintings, Drawings and Watercolors from the Museum's Collections," October 1–December 7, 1969, no catalogue.
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. "Great American Paintings from the Boston and Metropolitan Museums," November 30, 1970–January 10, 1971, no. 83.
Saint Louis, Mo. City Art Museum. "Great American Paintings from the Boston and Metropolitan Museums," January 28–March 7, 1971, no. 83.
Seattle Art Museum. "Great American Paintings from the Boston and Metropolitan Museums," March 25–May 9, 1971, no. 83.
Rockland, Me. William A. Farnsworth Library and Art Museum. "Edward Hopper 1882–1967: Oils, Watercolors, Etchings," July 9–September 15, 1971, no. 32.
Philadelphia. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. "Edward Hopper 1882–1967: Oils, Watercolors, Etchings," September 24–October 31, 1971, no. 32.
Balboa, Calif. Newport Museum. "Edward Hopper," January 12–February 20, 1972, no catalogue.
Pasadena Art Museum. "Edward Hopper," March 7–April 30, 1972, no catalogue.
Moscow. State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. "Representations of America," December 15, 1977–February 15, 1978, no catalogue.
Leningrad. State Hermitage Museum. "Representations of America," March 15–May 15, 1978, no catalogue.
Minsk, Belarus. Palace of Art. "Representations of America," June 15–August 15, 1978, no catalogue.
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "Edward Hopper: The Art and the Artist," September 16, 1980–January 25, 1981, unnumbered cat.
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. "Edward Hopper: The Art and the Artist," April 22–June 17, 1981, unnumbered cat.
Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf. "Edward Hopper: The Art and the Artist," July 10–September 6, 1981, unnumbered cat.
Art Institute of Chicago. "Edward Hopper: The Art and the Artist," October 3–November 29, 1981, unnumbered cat.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. "Edward Hopper: The Art and the Artist," December 16, 1981–February 14, 1982, unnumbered cat.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Selection One: Twentieth-Century Art," February 1–April 30, 1985, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "14 Americans," July 16, 1990–January 2, 1991, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "American Painting: 1905–1950," April 19–October 7, 1991, no catalogue.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "Edward Hopper," May 6–August 19, 2007, no. 102.
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. "Edward Hopper," September 16, 2007–January 21, 2008, no. 102.
Art Institute of Chicago. "Edward Hopper," February 16–May 11, 2008, no. 102.
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "Edward Hopper's New York," October 19, 2022–March 5, 2023, unnumbered cat. (pl. 82).
Guy Pène du Bois. Edward Hopper. New York, 1931, ill. p. 23.
T. C. Linn, Jr. "Activities in the Field of Art Here and Overseas." New York Times (July 19, 1931), ill. p. X5.
W[illiam]. B. McCormick. "Tables for Ladies." New York American (July 17, 1931), p. 28, admires the way this work represents American life and praises the Museum for acquiring it.
"Will Metropolitan Now Buy Modern Art?" Art Digest 5 (August 1, 1931), p. 13, ill.
"Recent Museum Acquisitions." Parnassus 3 (November 1931), p. 29.
"Tables for Ladies." Brooklyn Daily Eagle (October 4, 1931), p. E5, ill.
"Modern Art Bought by Metropolitan." New York Times (July 12, 1931), p. N2, postulates that the Museum's acquisition of this work may demonstrate a move away from its characteristic "ultra-conservativism" towards being more "contemporary in spirit".
"Modern Shuns Honor by Design Academy." New York Times (March 26, 1932), p. 15, notes that the MMA had "shown little interest in modern art" before buying this work.
"Hopper to Decline?" Art Digest 6 (April 1, 1932), p. 4.
"Some Modern Museum Acquisitions." Parnassus 4 (February 1932), p. 33.
Edward Alden Jewell. "The Metropolitan's New Policy: Recent Acquisition of Fifteen Works by Native Living Artists Symptomatic of Revised Trend—Is the Group Representative?" New York Times (June 26, 1932), p. X6.
C. J. Bulliet. Art Masterpieces in a Century of Progress Fine Arts Exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, 1933, vol. 2, unpaginated, under no. 114.
Helen Appleton Read. "Racial Quality of Hopper Pictures at Modern Museum Agrees with Nationalistic Mood." Brooklyn Daily Eagle (November 5, 1933), p. 12B-C, calls this work an "obvious human interest canvas" and thus "among [Hopper's] least successful efforts" on view in Exh. New York 1933.
Forbes Watson. "The Rise of Edward Hopper." Brooklyn Daily Eagle (November 5, 1933), ill. p. 14.
Edward Alden Jewell. "In the Realm of Art: Hopper's Superb One-Man Show." New York Times (November 5, 1933), p. 12X.
E. C. Sherburne. "The Hopper Exhibition." Christian Science Monitor (November 6, 1933), p. 10, notes that this work demonstrates Hopper's rare ability to incorporate decoration, realism, interpretation and expression into his paintings.
"Modern Museum Holds Hopper Exhibition." Art Digest 8 (November 1, 1933), p. 19.
Horace Gregory. "A Note on Hopper." New Republic (December 13, 1933), p. 132.
Mary Morsell. "Hopper Exhibition Clarifies a Phase of American Art." Art News 32 (November 4, 1933), p. 12, notes that in this and other recent works the artist "seems to have completely abandoned his mistrust of the human figure" with the result of diminishing the power of the work.
"Edward Hopper: His Flair for the Pictorial Interpretation of the Spirit of Place." New York Herald Tribune (November 5, 1933), sec. 5, p. 10.
Alfred H. Barr Jr. inEdward Hopper: Retrospective Exhibition. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1933, pp. 15, 26, pl. 15.
E[manuel]. M. Benson. "A New Yorker Looks His Museums in the Face." American Magazine of Art 27 (October 1934), p. 540.
Archer Winsten. "Wake of the News: Washington Square North Boasts Strangers Worth Talking To." New York Post (November 26, 1935), p. 15.
Alan Burroughs. Limners and Likenesses: Three Centuries of American Painting. Cambridge, Mass., 1936, p. 210, fig. 185.
"Hopper is a Realist." Life 2 (May 3, 1937), ill. p. 45 (color).
"Edward Hopper Painting Bought by Metropolitan." New York Herald Tribune (March 26, 1937), p. 19.
"Carnegie Traces Hopper's Rise to Fame." Art Digest 11 (April 1, 1937), p. 14.
"Museum Buys Painting." New York Times (March 26, 1937), p. L19.
Carlyle Burrows. "Hearn Paintings at the Metropolitan." New York Herald Tribune (May 30, 1937), p. E6.
Edward Alden Jewell. "American Artists Show Works Here." New York Times (May 29, 1937), p. 15.
American Artists Group, ed. Edward Hopper. New York, 1945, ill. n.p.
Charles Ephraim Burchfield. "Hopper: Career of Silent Poetry." Art News 49 (March 1950), p. 17, cites this picture as an example of the artist's ability to freeze a mundane moment while implying a greater universal significance, like people mummified in the ruins at Pompeii.
Arthur Millier. "Art Masterpieces Lent for Exhibit." Los Angeles Times (June 17, 1951), p. 11.
Henry Geldzahler. "Edward Hopper." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 21 (November 1962), p. 117, fig. 5.
Henry Geldzahler. American Painting in the Twentieth Century. New York, 1965, pp. 79–80, ill.
Jerrold Lanes. "U.S.A." Burlington Magazine 107 (January 1965), p. 45, fig. 55, notes that Hopper draws inspiration in this work from French masters, including the café scenes of Edouard Manet and the perspectival manipulations of Edgar Degas.
"Edward Hopper is Dead at 84; Painter of the American Scene." New York Times (May 17, 1967), p. 32.
Jerrold Lanes. "Edward Hopper: French Formalist, Ash Can Realist, Neither, or Both?" Artforum 7 (October 1968), p. 45, ill.
Barbara Rose. American Painting: The 20th Century. [Lausanne], [1969], ill. p. 45 (color).
Thomas N. Maytham. Great American Paintings from the Boston and Metropolitan Museums. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. Seattle, 1970, p. 130, no. 83, ill. p. 131.
Lloyd Goodrich. Edward Hopper. New York, [1971], ill. p. 209 (color).
Vincent Price. The Vincent Price Treasury of American Painting. Waukesha, Wisc., 1972, pp. 220–21, ill. (color).
Gerald Weales. "The Year of the Hopper." Hudson Review 25 (Spring 1972), p. 112.
Nancy Heller and Julia Williams. The Regionalists. New York, 1976, p. 130, pl. 48 [reprinted as "Painters of the American Scene" 1982].
Barbara Rose. "The Crisis of the Thirties." American Painting from the Colonial Period to the Present. 2nd ed. (1st ed., 1969). New York, 1977, ill. p. 163 (color).
Gail Levin. Edward Hopper as Illustrator. New York, 1979, p. 44, fig. 59.
Ann Barry. "The Full Range of Edward Hopper." New York Times (September 21, 1980), sec. 2, p. 30.
W. Draeger. "Zur Biographie." Du 4 (1980), ill. pp. 16–17 (color).
Gail Levin. "Hopper, un gigante del realismo americano: L'America e sola al mondo." Bolaffiarte 7 (October 1980), p. 48, ill. pp. 46–47 (color).
Jerry William McRoberts. "The Conservative Realists' Image of America in the 1920s: Modernism, Traditionalism and Nationalism." PhD diss., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1980, p. 83 n. 2.
Ronald Paulson. "Edward Hopper and Some Precursors." Bennington Review (December 1980), p. 67.
Gail Levin. Edward Hopper: The Art and the Artist. Exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art. New York, 1980, p. 52, colorpl. 329.
Raphael Soyer. "Edward Hopper as Illustrator by Gail Levin, Edward Hopper: The Complete Prints by Gail Levin." New Republic (January 5 and 12, 1980), p. 35.
Louise Bruner. "Edward Hopper Art Exhibited in Chicago." Blade (November 22, 1981), sec. G, p. 2.
Alan G. Artner. "Visions of America." Chicago Tribune Magazine (September 20, 1981), ill. p. 26, cover (detail).
Gloria-Gilda Deák. Profiles of American Artists Represented by Kennedy Galleries. New York, 1981, p. 80, praises the artist's ability to render light in this and other interior scenes.
Richard Elovich. "London: Edward Hopper." Burlington Magazine 123 (February 1981), p. 111, fig. 56, ill. cover (color).
Nina Ffrench-Frazier. "New York's Winterset: Edward Hopper." Art International 24 (January-February 1981), p. 129, compares this work to Manet's "Bar at the Folies Bergeres" (1882; Courtauld Gallery, London) and praises it as one of Hopper's "gentler, more convivial restaurant scenes".
Anne Coffin Hanson. "Edward Hopper, American Meaning and French Craft." Art Journal 41 (Summer 1981), p. 147, pl. 5, figs. 18–19 (details).
John Hollander. "Hopper and the Figure of Room." Art Journal 41 (Summer 1981), p. 158, pl. 5.
Gail Levin. "Edward Hopper's 'Nighthawks'." Arts Magazine 55 (May 1981), p. 160.
Richard Reilly. "A Realist Who Was Himself." San Diego Union (January 31, 1982), ill. p. E1.
Kathleen Howard, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New York, 1983, p. 417, no. 16, ill. (color).
Gail Levin. Edward Hopper. New York, 1984, pp. 52–53, ill. p. 44 (color).
Robert Hobbs. Edward Hopper. New York, 1987, pp. 115–16, 129, ill. p. 114 (color).
Richard F. Shepard. "Seeing the Evolution of New York City Through Artists' Eyes." New York Times (March 20, 1987), p. C26.
Brian O'Doherty. American Masters: The Voice and the Myth. New York, 1988, p. 25.
Gail Levin. "Book Reviews: 'Edward Hopper' by Robert Hobbs." New England Quarterly 61 (September 1988), p. 477.
Kate Farrell. Art and Nature: An Illustrated Anthology of Nature Poetry. New York, 1992, ill. p. 140 (color).
Gail Levin Whitney Museum of American Art. Edward Hopper: A Catalogue Raisonné. Vol. 3, Oils. New York, 1995, p. 204–5, no. O-274, ill. (color), comments that the identities of the figures in this painting as recorded by the artist in his journal were probably "imaginary names [given] to characters in Hopper's compositions, a practice . . . continued throughout his career".
Gail Levin inEdward Hopper and the American Imagination. Exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art. New York, 1995, p. 115.
Deborah Lyons. "Record Books I, II, III, V." Edward Hopper: A Journal of His Work. New York, 1997, pp. 31, 40, reproduces the artist's notes and recording that this work was painted in his New York studio, delivered to the Rehn Gallery on December 6, 1930 and purchased by MMA on May 15, 1931.
Brian O'Doherty. "Word and Image: A Reciprocal Arrangement." Edward Hopper: A Journal of His Work. New York, 1997, p. 22.
Virginia M. Mecklenburg with Margaret Lynne Ausfeld. Edward Hopper: The Watercolors. Exh. cat., National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Washington, D.C., 1999, pp. 106, 159.
William E. Leuchtenburg. "Art in the Great Depression." A Modern Mosaic: Art and Modernism in the United States. Ed. Townsend Ludington. Chapel Hill, N.C., 2000, p. 252, fig. 10.
Carol Troyen inEdward Hopper. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Boston, 2007, pp. 185, 191, 242, 250, no. 102, ill. pp. 176 (color detail), 185 (color).
Judith A. Barter inEdward Hopper. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Boston, 2007, pp. 196, 203.
Gail Levin. Edward Hopper: An Intimate Biography. 2nd rev. ed. [1st ed., 1995]. New York, 2007, pp. 235–36, 238, 281–82.
Patricia Junker. Edward Hopper: Women. Exh. cat., Seattle Art Museum. Seattle, 2008, pp. 15–17, fig. 5 (color).
Judith Kafka Maxwell inAnna Richards Brewster: American Impressionist. Ed. Judith Kafka Maxwell. Exh. cat., Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, NY. Berkeley, Calif., 2008, pp. 44–45, fig. 19 (color).
David Leatherbarrow. Architecture Oriented Otherwise. New York, 2009, pp. 133–36, ill.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New York, 2012, p. 417, ill. (color).
Rosalind Ormiston. Edward Hopper Masterpieces. London, 2012, ill. p. 86 (color).
Bonnie Tocher Clause. Edward Hopper in Vermont. Hanover, N.H., 2012, pp. 57–58.
Alfred H. Barr Jr. inHopper. Exh. cat., Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. Madrid, 2012, p. 260, reprints Ref. Barr 1933.
Brian O'Doherty inHopper. Exh. cat., Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. Madrid, 2012, p. 291.
Caroline Hancock inHopper. Exh. cat., Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. Madrid, 2012, pp. 329–30.
Randy Kennedy. "When Art's Muse Worked Up a Sweat." New York Times (September 4, 2015), p. C26.
Max Hollein. Modern and Contemporary Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2019, ill. p. 59 (color).
Beatriz Cordero inThe Irascibles: Painters Against the Museum, New York, 1950. Ed. Bradford R. Collins et al. Exh. cat., Fundación Juan March. Madrid, 2020, p. 82.
Kim Conaty. Edward Hopper's New York. Exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art. New York, 2022, pp. 27–28, 143, 250, colorpl. 82.
Edward Hopper (American, Nyack, New York 1882–1967 New York)
1921
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