09/06/2026
Who Is She—and What Story Does the Empty Chair Tell?
Hopper’s Automat represents a location from a bygone era and another lonely female subject. Automats, the self-serving cafeterias of 20th-century America, are no longer around. There is a lot to glean from this piece, and all of it is questions rather than answers.
There’s not much to the interior of the scene except the well-dressed woman sitting at the marble-top table with one glove on. Who is she? Where is she going, or where has she been? Why is she all alone at this automat? The light fixtures reflected in the dark window seem to go on endlessly. It’s a beautiful, thought-provoking piece. ,