Online Paintings

Automat (1927) is a painting by Edward Hopper which portrays alone woman staring into a cup of coffee in an Automat at night. The mirror image of identical rows of light fixtures stretches out through the night-blackened window.

As often happens in Hopper's paintings, both the circumstances of the woman and her mood is mixed. She is well dressed and wearing makeup, which could indicate that she is on her way to or from work in a job where personal appearance is important, or is en route to or from a social event. Was removed one glove, which may indicate that she is distracted, in a hurry and can stop for a moment, or simply just arrived from abroad, and has not yet warmed up.

The time of year—late autumn or winter—is evident from the fact that the woman is affectionately dressed. But the time of day is unclear, since days are short at this time of year. It is possible, for example, that it is just after sunset, and early enough in the evening that the automat could be the spot at which she has arranged to rendezvous with a friend. Or it could be late at night, after the woman has completed a shift at work. Or again, it could be early in the morning, before sunrise, as a shift is about to start.

Whatever the hour, the restaurant appears to be largely empty and there are no signs of activity) on the street outside. This adds to the sense of loneliness, and has caused the painting to be popularly associated with the concept of urban alienation. One critic has observed that, in a pose typical of Hopper's melancholic subjects, "the woman's eyes are downcast and her thoughts turned inward."  

Another critic has described her as "gazing at her coffee cup as if it were the last thing in the world she could hold on to."  In 1995, Time magazine used Automat as the cover image for a story about stress and depression in the 20th century