Lighthouse hill
By Edward Hopper, 1927
A white lighthouse and its keeper's house perch on a grassy hill under a broad, cloudless sky in this 1927 painting by Edward Hopper. The place is real. It shows the Cape Elizabeth Light in Maine, a spot Hopper enjoyed visiting during his summers along the New England coast. Bright sunlight strikes the buildings from the side, carving out crisp shadows on their walls. That interest in light and shadow stayed with Hopper his whole life and shows up in painting after painting.
Known as one of America's finest realist painters, Hopper had a knack for making quiet scenes feel a bit lonely. No people appear here, yet the mood is hushed and still, which is very much his style. The buildings stand plain against the empty sky, stripped of any clutter or fancy detail. Simple as the view is, it holds that calm, faintly sad feeling that runs through so much of his work and makes his paintings easy to spot once you know them.
