Cape Elizabeth

Perched on a windswept hill in Maine, the lighthouse at Cape Elizabeth rises above a small group of white buildings with rust-red roofs. Edward Hopper painted this coastal scene in 1927, working in watercolor, a medium that suited his love of clean shapes and clear light. The famous Two Lights station near Portland kept pulling him back summer after summer, and lighthouses became one of his favorite subjects. Grassy slopes roll toward the sea under a broad gray sky, and the whole place feels open and a little exposed to the weather.

Hopper is remembered for painting quiet and empty scenes, and this one fits right in. No people appear anywhere in the picture, only the buildings, the hills, and the sky. Afternoon sun rakes across the structures, throwing dark shadows beneath the eaves and giving the plain houses a solid, slightly lonely feeling. He had a knack for making ordinary American places worth a second look, and even the lone telephone pole on the left tells a small story, a reminder that the modern world was reaching into this old seaside outpost.