Opportunities for women
Edward Hopper (American)
1882-1967
Tables for Ladies
1930
medium-oil on canvas
In Hopper's Table for Ladies a waitress leans forward to adjust the vividly painted food at the window as a couple sits quietly in the richly paneled and well-lit interior.A cashier attentively tends to business at the register.Though they appear to be 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 advertise "tables for ladies" in order to welcome their newly mobile female customers,who,if seen dining in public previously were assumed to be prostitutes.
Opportunities for women
Edward Hopper (American)
1882-1967
Tables for Ladies
1930
medium-oil on canvas
In Hopper's Table for Ladies a waitress leans forward to adjust the vividly painted food at the window as a couple sits quietly in the richly paneled and well-lit interior.A cashier attentively tends to business at the register.Though they appear to be 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 advertise "tables for ladies" in order to welcome their newly mobile female customers,who,if seen dining in public previously were assumed to be prostitutes.