1

2


S

Plagiaiism Beclaiation

I heieby ueclaie that this thesis is an oiiginal piece of woik piouuceu by the
unueisigneu alone. Infoimation anu iueas boiioweu fiom othei souices aie
explicitly mentioneu in the text anu the notes.
Amsteiuam, u1. u8. 2u11. (signeu)






N.}acimovic
4
Acknowleugment

I woulu like to expiess my giatituue to eveiyone who helpeu me thioughout this
pioject. Fiist anu foiemost, I woulu like to acknowleuge the Buygens Scholaiship
Piogiamme without which this thesis, noi the piepaiatoiy yeai that it
necessitateu, woulu have been possible to achieve. 0n a peisonal level, I am
inuebteu to ui. Ivo Blom, whose competence on the subject, encouiagement anu
guiuance fiom the initial to the final stages of this pioject enableu me to uevelop
a goou unueistanuing of the stuuieu mattei anu enable me to piesent this thesis.
I woulu also like to thank ui. }os ten Beige, whose ait histoiical expeitise
encouiageu fiesh peispectives foi this woik. Fuitheimoie, I am giateful to all my
colleagues anu fiienus who in one way oi anothei assisteu me in this task.
Special thanks go to Benoit Betalle foi biinging to my attention invaluable
souices, anu foi tiieless conveisations anu uebates on topics of visual
iepiesentation, natuie of obseivation anu spectatoiship, as well as matteis of
visual anu meuia anthiopology.
I offei my iegaius anu blessings to all the citizens of Amsteiuam, who uwell
behinu theii laige winuow panes, keeping the cuitains of theii home theatei
constantly open. Last but not least, a special mention must go out to Ni. Fiancois
uoemans, who geneiously offeieu a nice anu quite woikplace at his beautiful
estate of Le Peiiiei in Aiueche, Fiance.
S

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6

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A winuow open
0nto the blue
Wiue as an ocean
Fai as a moon

Thiough the winuow
Into the sky
In the uige to fall is
The wish to fly

0n peifunctoiy loveis
Fumbling in the night
The open winuow
Sheus its light

Into atmospheies stifleu
With suppiesseu uespaii
The open winuow
Releases aii
Thiough silences so lauen
They uiop like weights
The open winuow
Reveibeiates

When walls close in
Without a sounu
When feet feel unbeaiably
Anchoieu to the giounu
The open winuow is
0ne way out

A winuow open
0nto the blue
Wiue as an ocean
Fai as a moon

Thiough the winuow
Into the sky
In the uige to fall is
The wish to fly

Petei }ukes, 1987
7
-*+N'LOP+K'*

Winuows have been aiounu us foievei. In the encloseu inteiioi spaces that we
inhabit, they piouuly seive as giveis of light anu aii, the two vital human neeus.
The etymology of the English woiu winJow ieflects these two basic functions, foi
its oiigin uates back to the 0lu Noise woiu vinJouqo - which is a fusion of the
woius vinJr (winu) anu ouqo (eye). Alongsiue these two highly piactical
puiposes, theii most intiiguing function is that they pioviue a view, thus
appealing to the visually inclineu natuie of Westein society anu oui in-built
cuiiosity. Nost impoitantly, they uon't meiely allow us to look outsiue oi peek
insiue, but they uiiect oui attention by pioviuing a cleai boiuei between the
content of the view anu the iest of the woilu, which is left out of the winuow
fiame. All of the mouein uay theoiies on fiaming anu peispective iely stiongly
on what is thought to be the veiy fiist theoietical pioblematization of this motif -
the metaphoi known as "Albeiti's winuow". In his 14SS tieatise Be Picturo, Leon
Batista Albeiti gives the following instiuction to the fellow painteis: 'Fiist of all,
on the suiface on which I am going to paint, I uiaw a iectangle of whatevei size I
want, which I iegaiu as an open winuow (operto finestro) thiough which the
subject to be painteu is seen'.
1
The iuea of the open winuow as a substitute foi
the painting not only points out to the iectangulai shape of the painting anu the
winuow, but it accentuates theii mutual ability to pioviue the 'seeing thiough'
expeiience. With the auvent of lineai peispective, the Renaissance painting
finally enableu the viewei to 'see thiough' ('Peispectiva is a Latin woiu which
means "seeing thiough"')
2
.

1
Albeiti quoteu in Fiieubeig, 2uu6. p.27
2
These aie the woius of Albiecht Biei in his 0nJerweysunq Jer Hessunq (Treotise on
Heosurement of 1S2S anu 1SS8) that Eiwin Panofsky useu to open his seminal woik Perspective
os Symbolic Iorm oiiginally publisheu as Bie Perspektive ols symboliscbe Iorm in the vortrqe
Jer Bibliotbeek vorburq 1924 - 192S (Leipzig & Beilin, 1927), pp.2S8-SSu
8







As uepicteu on the wooucut illustiation by Biei (Fig.1), anu uesciibeu by
Albeiti, Leonaiuo anu otheis, Renaissance painteis useu uiffeient winuow-like
tools, like Albeiti's velo giiu, to tianslate the thiee uimensional woilu on a two
uimensional plane. Even though Albeiti's winuow seiveu moie as a piactical tool
foi unueistanuing peispective, his famous woius continueu to iesonate in the
theoiy of visual aits, invoking the questions of the veiy natuie of visual
iepiesentation. The iectangulai fiame of the winuow can easily be unueistoou
as the anteceuent of the cinema, television anu computei scieens that populate
oui visual spheie anu uictate the laws of visual oiganization. In his text Tbe
influence of tbe WinJow on Western Art onJ vision wiitten in 1977, Euwaiu
Wachtel fiom the New Yoik Centei foi Instiuctional Bevelopment at Queens
College City 0niveisity, aigues that it was piecisely the aichitectuial winuow
(glazeu winuow) that conuitioneu Westein society in unueistanuing lineai
peispective as a peifectly logical visual system foi iepiesentation of ieality.
S

Long befoie the Renaissance, in the fiist centuiy BC, the inteiioi walls of
Pompeiian villas weie coveieu by painteu lanuscapes that uemonstiateu some
unueistanuing of lineai peispective anu illusion of uepth. The excavation of
Pompeii also ievealeu anothei Roman invention - the glazeu winuow. The
Roman technique foi piouucing the tianslucent glass pane was faiily
complicateu anu impeifect, anu with the fall of the Roman Empiie it seemeu to
haven fallen into obscuiity. A few centuiies latei (7th centuiy) glass blowing

S
Wachtel, 19771978, pp. 4-9
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9
techniques appeaieu in Syiia, anu in the 1S
th
centuiy weie auopteu by venetians
who became the leauing glazieis of the entiie continent of Euiope. The winuows
coulu once again be sealeu with a glass pane, which meant an inciease in theii
size anu a shift in theii position (fiom tiny apeituies positioneu high on the walls
with the sole puipose of letting aii anu light into the inteiioi, to a lowei position
wheie they coulu also pioviue a view). Soon theie aftei, the lineai peispective
was to emeige (oi ie-emeige) in Renaissance painting. The simultaneous
appeaiance anu uisappeaiance of winuows anu lineai peispective, anu
fuitheimoie the absence of peispective in the ait of winuowless cultuies (such
as ancient uieeks, Eskimos anu Afiican tiibes) leu Wachtel to concluue that the
glazeu winuow might have somehow influenceu Westein cultuie to uevelop the
single point peispectival oiganization as a uominant system. Fuitheimoie,
looking at something thiough a glass pane, like at an aitifact in a museum foi
example, conveits the object of oui look into a spectacle wheie the glass acts as a
meuiatoi.
The othei impoitant tiait of winuows theii iectangulai fiame can be
unueistoou as a seconu stage of meuiation, because it helps in focusing oui
attention to a given object. If we look back in time, cave paintings, fiescoes anu
vases weie all painteu without cleai boiueis, much moie similai to the natuie of
oui view, which has a bluiiy ciiculai bounuaiy. Ciiculai fiaming was not
uncommon in the peiiou between uieek antiquity anu the Renaissance, with
many examples of tonJi ciiculai woiks of ait. Theie is no uoubt that the
aichitectuial stiaight lines, which aie iaiely founu in natuie, playeu a pait in
squaiing up the boiueis of the painting anu oui visuality in geneial. Even befoie
painting became mobile, anu sepaiateu fiom the wall, the wall paintings hau to
be aujusteu anu composeu within the given stiuctuie of the inteiioi, with its
walls anu winuows. If the winuow view helpeu piomoting peispective as a
piinciple technique in the Renaissance ait, it suiely must have pusheu oui visual
oiganization towaius the iectangulai fiame, giving a winuow the status of the
aichetype of the mouein meuia.
4


4
Wachtel, 19771978, pp. 4-9
1u
The winuow fascinateu aitists foi centuiies because of the gieat visual anu
symbolic potential that it possesses. The fiist known winuows in ait appeai in
the tombs of phaiaohs in the ancient Egypt. Since then, they appeaieu fiequently
on the uieek vases anu ieliefs, all the way thiough Chiistian woilu, the
Renaissance, Baioque, etceteia. Not only weie they useu in paintings anu poems
as elements foi pictoiial oi liteiaiy uesciiption, but they weie often given a
special symbolic meaning as entities that coulu be obseiveu inuepenuently fiom
the iest of the pictuie. victoi Stoichita, a Romanian ait histoiian, speaks of
winuows in Butch anu Flemish inteiioi paintings, ieveising the Albeitian iuea of
the painting as a winuow. Be pioposes that painteu winuows anu winuow views
act as a painting within a painting an inteitextual element oi a painting of a
uiffeient genie that of a lanuscape.
S
Although the winuow anu the uooi views
weie veiy populai with Italian, Butch anu Flemish masteis, they weie almost
exclusively useu as inheient paits of the inteiioi, a foimal element foi ueepening
the peispective, a point of connection between two uiffeient spaces but nevei as
a singleu out motif. The biggest inteiest foi uepicting winuows in painting came
in the nineteenth centuiy, with Romanticism, coiiesponuing with one of the
favoiite themes in Romantic liteiatuie: 'the poet at the winuow suiveys a uistant
lanuscape anu is tioubleu by a uesiie to escape fiom his naiiow existence into
the woilu spieau out befoie him.'
6
Aitists like Caspai Baviu Fiieuiich, Auolf
Nenzel anu otheis biought the winuow to the close-up anu foi the fiist time
tieateu it as a theme of stuuy anu not as a backuiop foi chaiacteis oi as a
seconuaiy stage. The tuin of the centuiy alieauy anticipateu the upcoming
uiveisity in aitistic styles, while the inteiest foi the winuow as a subject anu a
motif was still thiiving. They appeaieu in the woiks of aitists like Nattisse,
Bonnaiu, vuillon, Labasque, Nunch, Begas, Nanet, Boccioni, Nagiitte, Buchamp,
vilhelm, Caillebotte anu many moie.


S
Stoichita, 1996, p.S8
6
Eitnei, 19SS, p. 286
11
I selecteu Euwaiu Boppei as a staiting
point foi the stuuy of the winuow, although
it is impoitant to unueistanu anu make
cleai that he was by no means the aitist
who inventeu oi even ie-inventeu this
motif. Euwaiu Boppei was an Ameiican
Realist paintei, known foi his uepictions of
quiet figuies in public anu intimate spaces,
famously unueistoou to evoke the feeling
of alienation anu solituue. Bis oeuvie
uemonstiates a gieat consistency in style
anu theme, anu can easily be unueistoou as
one heimetic woilu in which eveiy
painting iepiesents a piece of the puzzle.
Boppei's woilu is not an exact ieplica of
the woilu he liveu in oi a tiuthful imitation of life. Bis images show a moie
subjective outlook on ieality stiippeu of all unessential uetails, unsupplieu with
anecuotes, lanumaiks oi histoiical facts, anu ieuuceu to the spheie of the
existential anu the ontological. In that they aie somewhat aitificial, anu it is this
aitificiality combineu with the peisistent vaiiation of just a few elements -
winuows, lights, figuies anu inteiiois, that opens up the aiena foi symbolic
inteipietation of these elements.
Boppei's influence on the aitists, painteis, photogiapheis anu filmmakeis was
gieat anu wiuely iecognizeu. Be is aumiieu by the geneial auuience anu piaiseu
by ait connoisseuis anu ciitics, whilst his paintings have ieacheu a cult status.
Among the Ameiican painteis of his geneiation, he is piobably the one that
achieveu the biggest inteinational success anu iecognition. Reasons foi this may
lay in the unique way in which he tieateu univeisal themes, but also in his
ielentless inuiviuualism. Boppei nevei saw himself as a paintei belonging to any
school oi scene, anu it is inueeu haiu to situate his authentic style in any of the
existing gioups of the uay gioups to which he was connecteu thiough ait
ciicles anu fiienuly ielations. Boppei was a goou fiienu of many painteis of so
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12
calleu Ameiican Scene like }ohn Sloan anu Chailes Buichfielu, whose woik he
aumiieu. Fuitheimoie, he was thought by Robeit Benii who foimeu the
infamous Ash Can School, but as a stiong nonconfoimist he uiu not shaie all of
theii beliefs anu inteiests. Neveitheless, the univeisality of his themes anu cleai
visual style allow foi the associative analysis of his woik with uiveise ait
movements, such as "Fiench Symbolism, the Ash Can School, Ameiican Scene
painting, Regionalism, Suiiealism, film noii, Abstiact Expiessionism, Pop ait,
photo-iealism, Conceptual ait anu iecent photo-baseu ait piactice, paiticulaily
uiban photogiaphy."
7
This anu many othei ieseaiches on this aitist uepenu
gieatly on the woik of uail Levin, who uevoteuly wiote about his life anu woik
anu who publisheu his biogiaphy unuei the title FJworJ Eopper: lntimote
Bioqropby.










The winuow motif in Boppei's woik shows up as eaily as 19u6, in paintings view
Across lnterior CourtyorJ ot 48 rue Je lille, Poris (Fig. 2) anu lnterior CourtyorJ ot
48 rue Je lille, Poris (Fig. S), both painteu uuiing one of his visits to the Fiench
capital. The fiist painting featuies the winuow view which is ievealeu to us both

7
Wagstaff, S. 2uu4. The Elation of Sunlight, p.1S
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by the title anu by the piesence of the uiagonal balcony iailing in lowei pait of
the composition. The view shows a seiies of winuows on the opposite siue of the
couityaiu, but the uaik winuow panes seem to hiue the inteiioi of the builuing.
The seconu one biings the giounu flooi winuow of the same couityaiu to a close-
up, but the inteiioi of the house is even moie mystifieu by the thick black paint
anu even moie so by the open uiapes, painteu with a fiee biush stioke of an
Impiessionist. Following these two eaily pictuies, Boppei's inteiest in this motif
was constant thiough his six uecaues long caieei. They emeige iegulaily in the
following paintings anu etchings, in all foims anu contexts - both in inteiiois anu
exteiiois, isolateu oi in seiies, engaging people to look thiough them oi as peep
holes to look at people. 0ut of moie than foity paintings featuiing this motif, only
a few of them isolate the winuow as a subject mattei oi a theme, but even in
those paintings winuows iaiely occupy the cential pait of the composition. That
is to say that Euwaiu Boppei was uiawn to winuows inuiiectly foi the numeious
ieasons that this essay will tiy to sheu light on.
Why was Euwaiu Boppei so attiacteu to painting these geometiical apeituies.
To answei this question I will have to consiuei all of the impoitant aspects of
Boppei's painting - his meticulous stuuy of light, his uevotion to iigiu stiuctuies
anu inteiest in aichitectuie, peispective anu spatial oiganization, his
investigative anu somewhat eiotic voyeuiism, his ieluctance to tell stoiies, his
passion foi cinema anu theatei, anu his attiaction to the themes of loneliness anu
isolation. All of these aspects of his painting aie in one way oi anothei linkeu to
the winuow motif anu thiough that piism we can look anu unueistanu his
complete oeuvie, incluuing his non-winuow paintings. It is impoitant to look not
only at the foimal functions of the winuow motif, but as well to ievise its possible
symbolic (anu meta-symbolic) ieauings. These two viewpoints aie often
inteitwineu anu it is haiu to keep them apait in the couise of the analysis of the
motif. Chaptei 1 will theiefoie ievise the use of the winuow as a foimal uevice in
paintings of Euwaiu Boppei.
Chaptei 2 will tiy to answei the question of whethei we can talk about the
symbolism of winuows in context of a Realist paintei, such as Boppei, anu if we
can, what possible symbolic values uo his winuows possess. With an aitist like
14
Boppei who spoke so little of his woik, any ciitical inteipietation of the possible
symbolic meanings that may be weaveu into his paintings may iesult in
speculation. To stay as fai away as possible fiom unieseiveu guesswoik, we will
ventuie on a shoit ait histoiical jouiney thiough the histoiy of the motif anu the
tiauitional inteipietations of its symbolism. The most seminal woik publisheu
on such a naiiow subject as the winuow symbolism in Westein ait is Caila
uottlieb's book Tbe WinJow in Art: Irom tbe WinJow of 6oJ to tbe vonity of Hon
publisheu in 1978. The book coveis moie than thiee millennia of winuow
symbolism in ait, staiting in ancient Egypt, followeu by the extensive suivey of
Chiistian ait anu finally enus with the Nouein woilu, focusing on the nineteenth
anu twentieth centuiy but intiiguingly omitting Euwaiu Boppei. The pictoiial
symbolism is often uiawn fiom the liteiaiy symbolism of, as suggesteu in the
title, biblical texts oi sciiptuies, mouein Fieuuian psychoanalysis anu fuithei
moie folkloie tales. Appaiently, not all of the above will be ielevant foi the case
of Euwaiu Boppei, but some of the symbolic ieauings laiu out in this book offei
quite inteiesting peispectives foi the piesent analysis.
Winuows pioviue two uiffeient ways of looking. Looking insiue out anu looking
outsiue in - the fiist one associating the winuow with the act of vision while the
seconu one invokes the iuea of voyeuiism. The fiist pait of Chaptei S focuses on
Boppei's inteiiois anu the lonely figuies lookinq out. Theii gaze is a pioxy of oui
own, anu natuially we aie uiawn to see what they aie looking at. Beie is wheie
Boppei ieally plays with oui cuiiosity, iaiely ievealing much of the view but
iathei focusing on the act of viewing. The view of Boppei's winuows opens up to
the spaces of the unknown, the enuless uieamscapes that play a pait of the fielu
of unconscious, tuining the physical space into a lanuscape of the minu. The look
on these figuies is uiiecteu both towaius uistant iealities anu tuineu inwaiu,
putting the winuow in the ambivalent iole of the uevice foi connecting with the
outsiue woilus as well as the miiioi that confionts us with ouiselves. Special
attention will be given to the iecuiiing motif of the nuue woman gazing thiough
the winuow that appeais in paintings like A Womon in tbe Sun (1961) anu
1S
Horninq in tbe City (1944)
8
, which aie piobably some of Boppei's most stiiking
woiks. The concept of exposeu nuuity on the veiy boiuei of the intimate anu
public space iepiesenteu by the winuow plays on the veiy paiauox of the
human existence - oui yeaining to be seen as we aie anu at the same time stay
invisible anu piotecteu fiom the look of otheis. The woman at the winuow will
be exploieu within the context of feminism the uichotomy of the female as an
aitist anu the female as an object of looking anu fuitheimoie as a counteipoint
to the male flneur, following the iueas of Bauuelaiie, Benjamin, ueishinson
Smith, Nulvey anu otheis. The Boppeiesque motif of the nuue woman gazing
tiough the winuow was latei often useu in a similai way by Belgian avant-gaiue
film uiiectoi Chantal Akeiman, who also shaieu Boppei's fascination with
themes of silence, solituue anu alienation in the uiban enviionments, anu his
affiliation foi simple foims anu lack of naiiativity. The inteimeuial analysis heie
helps to illustiate the uiffeient peispectives in which the winuow is useu by
aitists to show uetachment anu uissociation of the mouein conuition. Baseu on
the ieseaich of Lutz Koepnick fiom his book Irominq Attention (2uu7), I will
analyze yet anothei mouel of moueinist looking that appeais fiequently in
Boppei's paintings: the view fiom the cai, tiain oi metio, which engageu people
in the then ielatively new piactice of mobile qozinq. The tiain intiouuceu the
concept of the mobile view anu the stationaiy viewei, the notion that lies in the
coie of the cinematic anu televisual expeiience.
The final pait of this chaptei focuses entiiely on the concept of looking outsiJe in,
fiequently appeaiing thioughout Euwaiu Boppei's oeuvie. The iuea of lookinq in
evokes questions of voyeuiism anu uesiie, uistance anu objectification. The
pleasuie ueiiveu fiom looking at othei people, which Fieuu uefineu as
scopopbilio, comes in essence fiom "taking othei people as objects, anu
subjecting them to a contiolling anu cuiious gaze".
9
Fixeu fiame, stationaiy
position, piesupposeu uistance to the animate subjects who aie unawaie of
being watcheu anu thus acting in theii most natuial way - all these aie common
tiaits of the voyeuiism anu the cinematic expeiience, which moie than anything

8
See Fig.SS, p.Su
9
Nulvey, 1999, p.8SS
16
else unueilines the mouein metaphoi of a winuow as an aichetype of visual
meuia. To quote Stella, the housemaiu of the injuieu photojouinalist L.B. }effeiies
in Alfieu Bitchcock's classic Reor WinJow (19S4): 'We've become a iace of
Peeping Toms. What people ought to uo is get outsiue theii own house anu look
in foi a change.' With these lines Bitchcock auuiesses the compulsive chaiactei
of mouein uay viewing piactices, long befoie suiveillance cameias anu
confeience calls that even tianscenu the physical boiueis of voyeuiism.
Bitchcock's Reor WinJow, inciuentally filmeu in New Yoik's uieenwich village
that was the place of Boppei's iesiuence foi the biggest pait of his life, both
ciiticizes anu pays an homage to the act of cinematic viewing, ienueiing it a
meta-film. Leaving the meta-symbolic ieauings asiue, the winuow in Reor
WinJow functions as a geneiatoi of the uiamatic action, a peep hole that biings
us closei to the site of the events. The fiagmenteu scenes occuiiing within anu
outsiue of the winuow fiame fiie up oui imagination anu stimulate oui cuiiosity
to ie-enact oi make up the stoiy of the en-fiameu chaiacteis. But while
Bitchcock engages the viewei in the investigative suspense thiillei with the plot
of a potential muiuei on the othei siue of the innei couityaiu, Euwaiu Boppei's
inteiest stays within the iealm of the basic conuitions of human existence, the
ineitia of eveiyuay life anu the moments of pause, uevoiu of action anu of any
naiiative impetus. Be meiely takes auvantage of the uistance pioviueu by the
spatial gap between the obseivei anu the subject to look at them without
iuentification oi empathy. Boppei's winuows iaiely have uiapes, shutteis oi
blinus on them, making the intimate spaces easily accessible to the eye of the
voyeui. The membiane between the public anu the intimate in mouein society is
as soliu as is the tianspaient glass pane that sepaiates them. The iuea of
tianspaiency of mouein society anu eiasuie of the baiiiei between peisonal anu
shaieu spaces was iemaikably uevelopeu in }acque Tati's 1967 masteipiece
Ploytime. Tati anu Bitchcock pioviue goou mateiial foi a compaiative analysis,
foi they both empowei the winuow with multiple symbolic anu meta-symbolic
ieauings. Fuitheimoie, the inteimeuial analysis might ieveal new layeis of the
cinematic quality commonly attiibuteu to Euwaiu Boppei's paintings.
17
8Z"I& 9K,O#% /&JN&,&*+#+K'* '( +I& =K*L'M >'+K( #*L K+,
<O*P+K'*,


In visual aits, paiticulaily the iepiesentational ones as opposeu to abstiact
painting anu film winuows iepiesent veiy impoitant foimal uevices anu caiiy
out a numbei of ioles, inuepenuently of theii symbolic meaning. Fiist of all, any
uepiction of aichitectuie is almost unimaginable without the winuow as its
inheient pait, as the connection point of the inteiioi anu exteiioi space. Euwaiu
Boppei's inuisputable inteiest in aichitectuie as a means of stuuying peispective
anu his concein foi the ielation of humans anu theii enviionments, natuially
uiaws him to this motif. Seconuly, the winuow acts as a fiame, oi a bounuaiy
that sepaiates two woilus the woilu within anu the woilu outsiue of the
fiame. 0n a puiely visual level, the fiame of the winuow communicates with the
fiame of the pictuie, allowing the aitist to oiganize the composition in fiagments
that coiielate with each othei, anu each of these fiagments, just like the oveiall
fiame of the pictuie, is a poweiful uevice that can be useu foi total oi paitial
emplacement oi uisplacement of objects shown. The question of fiaming, anu the
pioblem of a fiame within a fiame, moie then anything else, complicates the
uiscussion anu the uistinction between foimal anu symbolic functions of the
winuow motif because the meie fact that something is fiameu iuentifies it as an
object oi site of impoitance, uiiecting oui attention to it anu foicing us to ieau it
as an object with a special meaning anu not just a puiely foimal uevice that
haimonizes the composition, ueepens the peispective anu oiganizes the visual
fielu. Eveiy paintei, oi filmmakei foi that mattei, shoulu be highly awaie of the
foimal pioblems of peispective, space, composition anu fiame, anu foi the most
logical stuuy of these elements in iepiesentational aits, they commonly employ
winuows, as well as othei aichitectuial anu spatial elements, such as uoois,
pillais, walls. Anu finally, the aitistic pioblem of uepicting light in
iepiesentational painting posits the winuow as a point of heighteneu inteiest, foi
the winuow is in it's essence a hole that uiiects the beams of natuial light a
18
tiansitional point wheie light tiansfoims in contact with the glass pane anu
uispeises all ovei the inteiioi space. Buiing the uay the sunlight penetiates oui
living spaces thiough the winuows, anu by night the illuminateu spaces offei the
view insiue to the outsiue woilu. Euwaiu Boppei stuuieu light with gieat
uevotion. The inteiaction of fiim anu soliu lines of builuings anu geometiically
shapeu light patches that aie foimeu in the collision of light with the iectangulai
fiame of the winuow is piecisely what biings monumentality, stability anu
heighteneu auiatic piesence in Boppei's ait. The opaque anu luminous shapes in
these paintings baie moie chaiisma anu sometimes even tell moie than the
silent inuiviuuals with theii expiessionless mask-like faces. The following
paiagiaphs will explain in moie uetail the pioblems of composition, fiaming anu
lighting in the ait of Euwaiu Boppei, who thoioughly anu consistently stuuieu
these pioblems, nevei abanuoning his inteiest foi iealistic iepiesentation. It is
piecisely this iefineu unueistanuing of aitistic foim anu uesign that enables
Boppei to tiansfoim the most abstiact thoughts, iueas anu emotions into
iealistic imageiy of the veinaculai, giving common objects, like winuows, a
gieatei value.

?Z8Z"I& 5NPIK+&P+ON#% =K*L'M


Wbot o funny ploce New York wos, oll stickinq up onJ full of winJows.
10



These aie the woius that science fiction wiitei B.u. Wells useu to uesciibe
twentieth centuiy New Yoik, fiom the peispective of a little giil, living in the
futuie anu stuuying the past. In iesponse, hei gianufathei tells hei that the olu
New Yoik was a place wheie 'eveiybouy liveu half out of uoois', auuing that 'the
age of winuows lasteu foui centuiies'.
11
The age of winuows inueeu ieacheu its
zenith in the twentieth centuiy, when cities like New Yoik staiteu iising up in

1u
Fiom the film Tbinqs to come, (19S6, William Cameion Nenzies), auaptation of the B.u.Wells'
futuiistic novel Sbope of Tbinqs to Come, publisheu in 19SS.
11
Citeu fiom the same film, anu quoteu by Fiieubeig, 2uu6, The viitual Winuow, p.SS9
19
the aii with its colossal glass skysciapeis. But, in spite of his affiliation foi
themes of Ameiican uiban lanuscape, Boppei wasn't veiy inspiieu by these
monumental constiuctions, so typically Ameiican. Be was not inteiesteu in any
of New Yoik's chaiacteiistic lanumaiks, staying away fiom the busy touiist aieas
in favoi of the moie secluueu paits of the town wheie he coulu zoom in thiough
the winuows to obseive the life of common city uwelleis. By showing his
immeuiate suiiounuings he emphasizes his peisonal outlook anu ielationship
with a city. Bis viewpoint is eithei confineu to the giounu, showing the stieet
view, like in Forly SunJoy Horninq (19Su, Fig. 7), oi it is elevateu, implying the
winuow view fiom an uppei flooi apaitment oi fiom the El tiain, as in Tbe City
(1927, Fig. S ) anu Irom Williomsburq BriJqe (1928, Fig. 6), iespectively. But this
elevateu viewpoint still iemains veiy peisonal anu it nevei iises up to the biiu's
eye view as seen fiom the skysciapei's vista. The toweiing builuing in Boppei's
immeuiate neighboihoou, visible fiom his apaitment winuow on Washington
Squaie is seen in Tbe City, biutally cioppeu out of the pictuie fiame. New Yoik's
innate veiticality is uelibeiately abanuoneu in favoi of the hoiizontal, cinematic
anu moie peisonal peispective. The hoiizontal anu uiagonal compositions in his
exteiioi paintings aie chaiacteiizeu by iepetitive sequencing of winuows, black
tiny iectangles that caiiy oui look acioss the painting (Irom Williomsburq
BriJqe, Forly SunJoy Horninq) oi stieam in all uiiections (Tbe City) outsiue of the
pictuie fiame. Each winuow conceals an intimate stoiy of the peison oi the
family on the othei siue of the winuow pane. The multiplicity of winuows, all
tieateu with a subtle anu uelicate uiffeience (open oi closeu, with blinus oi
without, anu with its own unique light anu shauow patteins), suggests the
vaiiety of viewpoints anu opinions, wheieas the pictuie fiame, as a substitute foi
a winuow onto the woilu, inuicates the aitist's own unique stanupoint anu
outlook on life.
2u


































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<KQON& 3 R C&*/7 D.(8&7 -4*('(AT 8YCH
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<KQON& Y R =4.* ;&(# F4&8T 8YUF
<KQON& 8H R 6"4E D.#7T 8Y?Y
21
?Z?Z "I& =K*L'M #, # <N#V&
Not mony oqes oqo, qloss winJows were unknown
luxuries. Witb liqbt control by qloss come olso o meons of
controllinq tbe requlority of Jomestic routine, onJ steoJy
opplicotion to crofts onJ troJe witbout reqorJ to colJ or
roin. Tbe worlJ wos put in o frome.
12


The oiganization of the visual system of the mouein woilu ielies stiongly on
iectangulai fiames, embouieu in ait anu life thiough computei, cinema anu
television scieens, paintings, photogiaphs, winuows, uoois, anu othei
iectangulai openings.
1S
The fiame is a unique tool foi an aitist to enclose the
woilu he wants to uepict. As a cleai boiuei between the iepiesenteu viitual
woilu anu the outsiue woilu of expeiience, the fiame is imbueu with
metaphysical significance. Following Kant anu his Critique of }uJqment, }acques
Beiiiua exploies the concept of a fiame as an auuition to a woik of ait; a
porerqon that maiks the boiuei between intrinsic anu extrinsic, between the
woik (erqon) anu its milieu.
'What is incompiehensible about the euge, about the o-borJ
appeais not only at the inteinal limit, the one that passes
between the fiame anu the painting, the clothing anu the bouy,
the column anu the builuing, but also at the exteinal limit.
Porerqo have thickness, a suiface which sepaiates them not only
(as Kant woulu have it) fiom the integial insiue, fiom the bouy
piopei of the erqon, but also fiom the outsiue, fiom the wall on
which the painting is hung, fiom the space in which statue oi
column is eiecteu, then, step by step, fiom the whole fielu of
histoiical, economic, political insciiption in which the uiive to
signatuie is piouuceu. '
14


12
NcLuhan, 1964, p.121.
1S
Fiieubeig, 2uu6, pp.1S-14
14
Beiiiua, 1987, pp.6u-61
22
victoi Stoichita fuithei uevelops the concept of porerqon in painting in his stuuy
of the emeiging genies in the seventeenth centuiy Renaissance painting, 'a
peiiou obsesseu with the "aesthetic bounuaiy"'.
1S
In the uominant genie of
uomestic inteiioi, it was the winuow view that intiouuceu the genie of
lanuscape, while the objects nesteu in the niches of the inteiioi initiateu the
genie of still-life. Both the lanuscapes (seen thiough the winuow) anu still-lives
(nesteu in niches) oiiginateu as porerqo, oi the seconuaiy elements to the main
image of the inteiioi. The winuow, thus, piesents a foim of porerqon both in
the thiee-uimensional woilu wheie it maiks a bounuaiy anu joins insiue anu
outsiue anu on the two uimensional plane wheie it functions as a fiame within
the fiame. As such, Stoichita aigues that the winuow is piecisely the element that
biings inteitextuality to painting thiough the uialogue of the embeuueu fiame
with the main fiame of the pictuie.
This type of inteitextuality, anu self-ieflective natuie of the pictuie within the
pictuie is even moie entiencheu in film theoiy anu piactice evei since the
intiouuction of wiue-angle lenses that weie capable of maintaining the
foiegiounu anu backgiounu in focus at the same time.
16
In his uiscussion on the
concept of the film fiame in the fiist of the two books on cinema, Cinemo 1: Tbe
Hovement-lmoqe, uilles Beleuze obseives that the iectangulai bounuaiy not only
uefines the content of the fiame but also the content left out of the fiame, in the
aiea that he calls out-of-fielu (bors cbomp). The out-of-fielu suggests the
existence of the laigei woilu, which, in cinema, is attaineu by way of coJroqe, by
the piesence of sounu that oiiginates fiom the objects outsiue of the fiame, oi by
the movement of the cameia. Because of the fixeu vantage point anu the lack of
sounu anu uynamism expiesseu in film thiough mobile fiaming, the fiame of the
painting can be easily unueistoou as uefinite, a type of fiame that 'isolates a
system anu neutializes its enviionment'.
17
In painting then, the implication of the

1S
Stoichita, 199S, p.Su
16
0ne of the fiist anu famously citeu examples of the ueep focus in film is founu in many scenes
of 0ison Wells' 1941 featuie Citizen Kone, paiticulaily in the shot when the young Kane is seen
thiough the winuow in the back playing with the snow while his paients aie negotiating his
uislocation with his futuie guaiuian. The iestiaining fiame of the winuow that encloses the scene
of the cheeiful boy foiesees the imminent enuing of his caiefiee boyhoou.
17
Beleuze, 1986, p.16
2S
existence of the laigei, unseen woilu out-of-fielu, is conveyeu thiough uiamatic
ciopping, like in photogiaphy anu thiough the fiames within a fiame the
winuows anu uoois. The implication that beyonu the winuow panes iesiues the
whole woilu, oi anothei space, is piesent even when these uoois anu winuows
aie closeu oi uaikeneu, hiuing that space fiom the eyes of the spectatoi. 'Boois,
winuows, box office winuows, skylights, cai winuows, miiiois, aie all fiames in
fiames. The gieat uiiectois have paiticulai affinities with paiticulai seconuaiy,
teitiaiy, etc. fiames. Anu it is by this uovetailing of fiames that the paits of the
set oi of the closeu system aie sepaiateu, but also conveige anu aie ieuniteu'.
18

These woius iefei to film uiiectois as much as they uo to painteis.
Euwaiu Boppei was veiy much awaie of the suggestive powei of fiaming when
he saiu to Biian 0'Boheity, 'The fiame. I consiuei it veiy foicibly'.
19
Besciibing
his 1928 painting Honbotton BriJqe loop, Boppei elaboiates on the state of the
out-of-fiame with following lines: \Caiiying the main hoiizontal lines of the
uesign with little inteiiuption to the euges of the pictuie, is to enfoice this iuea
anu to make one conscious of the spaces anu elements beyonu the limits of the
scene itself. The consciousness of these spaces is always caiiieu by the aitist to
the veiy limiteu space of the subject that he intents to paint, though I believe all
painteis aie not awaie of this.'
2u
The hoiizontal, almost tiaveling composition
that Boppei uesciibes is also seen in his famous canvas Forly SunJoy Horninq
(19Su, Fig. 7), which poitiays a seiies of uaikeneu winuows anu closeu stoie
fionts that extenu along the canvas paiallel to the empty sunbatheu siuewalk,
highlighteu with long moining shauows. The paiallel hoiizontal lines uiiect the
view fiom one siue of the canvas to the othei, suggesting that this uiban
lanuscape extenus lateially out of the fiame limitations. Similaily, in Iour lone
RooJ, (19S6, Fig. 9), the emphasis is placeu one the ioau that occupies the whole
left poition of the pictuie, pushing the chaiacteis to the iight, almost out of the
fiame. The ioau, the tiee iow anu the clouus blui into one unifieu aiea that
extenus uiagonally to the iight siue, suggesting mobility anu speeu in contiast to
the iule static figuies on the vacant gas station.

18
Beleuze, 1986, p.14
19
Euwaiu Boppei, qtu in 0'Boheity, 1964, Portroit: FJworJ Eopper, p.78
2u
Euwaiu Boppei fiom 'Statement Two' in uoouiych, 1976, FJworJ Eopper, p.1S2
24
The pictuie fiame, just like the winuow offeis an 'ontological cut'
21
of the woilu
that is not meiely spatial but also tempoial. This is paiticulaily obvious in the
views seen thiough the moving tiain, which appeai in paintings such as
Comportment C, Cor 29S (19S8, Fig. 8), showing a young lauy negligently
biowsing thiough a magazine to pass the time, neglecting the beautiful sunset
visible thiough the tiain winuow. The winuow view on this anu similai paintings
is nothing moie then a slice of time, a fiozen instant of the woilu outsiue of the
tiain compaitment, somewhat like an isolateu fiame of the motion pictuie. The
auvent of photogiaphy anu latei film influenceu painteis to consiuei the boiuei
of the fiame moie like an expiessive tool. Boppei nevei painteu fiom
photogiaphs but he often cioppeu his compositions uiamatically, cieating the
photogiaphic effect of the cut out poition of the laigei set. In the 1929 painting
Cbop Suey (Fig. 1u), foi instance, the 'out-of-fielu' is suggesteu by the bolu way in
which the figuie of the lauy on the veiy left of the composition is cut, with hei
face anu biight ieu hat lingeiing on the veiy euge of the fiame. The two lauies in
the fiont aie foicefully pusheu in the lowei pait of the composition, uominateu
by the laige winuows that occupy the laigest poition of the composition. The
winuow view ieveals the fiagment of the big neon sign that ieaus 'chop suey',
which, as suggesteu by the title of the painting, takes ovei the piotagonist iole.
Thiough the winuow we obtain the infoimation about the space anu time in
which this scene is locateu. The sign anu the lauuei on the fai iight of the fiame
infoim us that the uining ioom of this Chinese iestauiant is locateu on the highei
flooi, while the biight anu uiffuse light pouiing in thiough the winuow inuicates
the moining oi eaily afteinoon. The winuow at the back ieuuces the outsiue to a
two-uimensional suiface, much iesembling the abstiact painting. Following
Stoichita's aigument of the inteitextual biith of the lanuscape genie as a pait of
the winuow view of uomestic inteiiois in Renaissance ait, we can aigue that
Boppei's winuow view suggests some soit of an inteitextual connection with the
abstiact painting, which flouiisheu in those times. Although abstiactionism was
often taken with uisiegaiu by Boppei anu ciiticizeu by him anu his fellow

21
Stoichita, 199S, p.Su
2S
painteis in theii magazine Reolity as too uecoiative
22
, this new style infiltiateu
into his paintings, thiough seconuaiy elements, or poroerqo, auuing a mouein
touch to Realism.
Although he painteu winuows excessively, these 'seconuaiy anu teitiaiy fiames'
as Beleuze calls them,
2S
wheie not paiticulaily seconuaiy to Boppei. Be woulu
not use fiames within fiames effect to juxtapose two sepaiate actions in oiuei to
builu paiallel stoiies within the pictuie as it was often uone in films anu
Renaissance painting. In the paintings that pioviue the view fiom the outsiue in,
the winuow becomes the piimaiy fiame anu at the same time a repoussoir a
uevice to help him maintain a safe uistance fiom his chaiacteis anu to enclose
them within these fiames as spectacles oi objects of obseivation. In the inteiioi
paintings, he eithei gives a uispiopoitionately laige space of the image suiface to
the winuow, which biings nothing moie than a view of the immeuiate
suiiounuings oi he cuts the winuow entiiely out of the fiame, only hinting at it
by the light effect it piouuces oi the gaze of the figuie within the fiame. In both
of these cases the fiaming anu the liminality of the winuow aie useu to invoke
the inteiioiexteiioi uialectic, something which iesonates thioughout the entiie
Euwaiu Boppei's oeuvie.

22
Levin, 1998, p.2S2
2S
Beleuze, 1986, p.14
26
?ZCZ "I& =K*L'M #, # :'ONP& '( ;KQI+

Tbe winJow opens up like on oronqe,
Tbe lovely fruit of liqbt.
24


6uilloume Apollinoire


Tbe exceeJinq briqbtness of tbis eorly sun,
mokes me conceive bow Jork l bove become
2S


Wolloce Stevens

Light plays an essential iole in the woiks of Euwaiu Boppei. 'Light,' he saiu, was
'impoitant, as means of conveying the stiuctuie of ieality, a valuable weapon
that allows the aitist to convey his vision without having to fall shoit thiough
lack of technical ability.'
26
The inteiest foi uepicting light as a natuial
phenomena was veiy stiong among the Impiessionists, some of which Boppei
gieatly aumiieu. But while the Impiessionists like Nonet, Nanet anu Begas tiieu
to captuie the soft Paiisian light that uiffuses the objects it touches, Boppei
piefeiieu the stiong anu biight light that uefines the iigiuness of stiuctuies, anu
casts ueep anu uaik shauows. The titles of his paintings ieveal how gieatly he
caieu foi the time of the uay (Forly SunJoy Horninq, Seven A.H., Fleven A.H.,
Horninq Sun) anu the season (Summertime, Auqust in o City), sometimes
patiently waiting foi months foi the piopei light conuitions on the location he
wanteu to paint. 0n his pieliminaiy sketches, he woulu make veiy piecise
textual annotations iegaiuing the natuie anu ielation between light anu shauow
('waim shauows on eai' oi 'ieflecteu light'), as well as the coloi anu tone of paint
he woulu plan to use on a futuie painting. (Fig. 11)

24
'La fentie s'ouvie comme une oiangeLe beau fiuit ue la lumieie', les Ientres, 191S,
publisheu foi the catalogue of the Belaunay exhibition in Beilin in }anuaiy 191S, anu in the same
month in Poeme et Biame.
2S
0pening veises of the poem Tbe Sun Tbis Horcb (19Su) in Tbe CollecteJ Poems of Wolloce
Stevens, New Yoik 19S4, p.1SS quoteu in Wagstaff, p.46.
26
Levin, 1998, p.4u7
27


















































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28
The painting that emeigeu fiom this sketch in 19S2, calleu Horninq Sun (Fig. 12),
is piobably one of the biightest in his oeuvie. Yet this image of a giil in hei
sunbatheu ioom uoes not ieally yielu the most optimistic anu waim feeling. Bei
melancholic expiession, anu the voiu in the gaze shown by two uaik black holes
insteau of eyes, stanu as a counteipoint to the biightness anu vitality of the
sunlight. This contiast, which emanates fiom many of Boppei's paintings that
poitiay people in theii habitats, tianslates well into the woius of Wallace
Stevens quoteu above, in which light not only illuminates the objects anu people,
making theii physical being visible, but also penetiates into theii soul, ievealing
theii innei feelings. This veise best uesciibes the moou that so many Boppei
inteipieteis calleu melancholy, loneliness anu alienation.
The light in Boppei's paintings also possesses a heighteneu uiamatic agency.
27
In
his 1949 painting Tbe Conference ot Niqbt (Fig. 1S), he shows thiee figuies
involveu in a conveisation oi an aigument (one of the iaie scenes in his painting
wheie people inteiact with each othei). The ioom stiangely lacks any souice of
the inteiioi light anu the only thing that biakes the uaikness of the ioom is the
stiong beam of light coming fiom outsiue, possibly fiom a stieet-light, seeping
thiough the winuow. This uiiecteu beam of light, iesembles the spotlight of a
theatei stage, oi a set of a film-noii that Euwaiu Boppei was fonu of, anu inueeu
he confiims that the iuea came to him while walking the stieets of Bioauway.
28

But aftei submitting this painting to the Rehn galleiy, Boppei's iegulai buyeis
seemeu to be ieluctant to puichase it, because, as they saiu, it iesembleu too
much some soit of a seciet Communist gatheiing.
29
This event not only ieflects
the Ameiican paianoia anu feai of Communism uuiing the NcCaithy eia iight at
the biink of the Colu Wai, but moie impoitantly, it uemonstiates how the
suggestive use of light can inciease not only the pictoiial uiama, but play a
significant pait in evoking ceitain feelings anu cieating the naiiative in the
painting (film anu theatei). If one tiies to envision the same exact setting, with
the same thiee people having a meeting in the ioom, only now lighteu by an
electiic light fiom above, one can ceitainly see how the implication of obscuiity

27
Wagstaff, 2uu4, p.29
28
Levin, 1998, p.4u8
29
Ibiu. p.4u9
29
anu subveisives woulu be lost. 0ne such example is the painting 0ffice ot Niqbt
(194u, Fig.14), painteu only a yeai aftei the Conference, in which Boppei poseu
himself a similai pioblem, only this time the inteiioi of the office (a theme so
iaiely painteu in the histoiy of ait), is lit by thiee uiffeient souices of light: the
ceiling light, the uesktop lamp (embouieu in the light white tiapezoiu shapeu
patch on the table), anu the light coming fiom the stieet-light oi a passing cai,
locateu outsiue of the winuow, cieating a big ihomboiu patch of light, that gives
vibiancy to the pictuie.
The beaming stieam thiough the winuow uoes not contiast the inteiioi space, as
in Conference, but it incieases the pictoiial uiama, combining with two othei
souices of light anu eniiches the composition. In the accompanying statement of
the painting, which he piouuceu so iaiely anu only on the insistence of buyeis,
Boppei explains how the big light patch on the wall 'maue a uifficult pioblem, as
it is almost painting white on white'
Su
. With this he piobably involuntaiily
biought to attention the aesthetic exploiation of the Supiematist, Kazimii
Nalevich, anu his 1918 painting Wbite on Wbite. Yet again the inteitextual
uialogue of painting genies is biought inuiiectly thiough the winuow. With
Wbite on Wbite anu othei paintings of the Supiematist movement, Nalevich tiieu
to piove that geometiical foims aie able to piouuce a feeling as much as a human
face can uo. In Boppei, albeit his peisistent uisiegaiu of abstiact painting anu
stiong commitment foi Realist uepiction, the countless geometiical shapes of
light anu shauow, although tieateu as ieal woilu objects, seem to achieve exactly
the effect of which Nalevich spoke about yeais befoie. They posses as much
chaiactei anu piesence as the chaiacteis that cohabit with them in these
paintings. The piesence of these illuminateu geometiic shapes iectangles,
paiallelogiams, ihomboius, tiapezoius that Boppei cleveily employs as
compositional uevices with the skill of an abstiact paintei, is only justifieu to a
Realist with the uiiect oi inuiiect piesence of the winuow. The winuow is that
appaiatus that tiansfoims the uispeise, shatteieu anu untouchable natuial
phenomena of light into conciete anu almost tangible objects. Even in the uiban

Su
Euwaiu Boppei, statement attacheu to lettei of August 2Sth 1948 to Noiman A. ueske, uiiectoi
of Walkei Ait Centei, which hau acquiieu the painting that same yeai, quoteu in Wagstaff, 2uu4,
p.22
Su
enviionments when the view thiough the winuow is not that of a natuial but of
an uiban lanuscape, it is the beam of sunlight seeping thiough the winuow (a
man maue object of such iueal shape unfamiliai to the natuial woilu) that lets
the noture invaue a man maue space (space of cultuie). But it is thiough that
same winuow that noture conveits into culture, taking the geometiic foim that
iepiesents the woilu of iJeo.
S1
But just like iueas, these light patches iemain in
the iealm of tempoial anu immateiial.
The painting that most closely anu uiiectly iefeis to this philosophical uichotomy
of mateiiality anu iuealism is one of Boppei's last woiks, Fxcursion into
Pbilosopby (Fig. 1S). Cieateu aftei the long peiiou of aitistic block, this painting
stanus as a paii to a painting maue a uecaue eailiei, titleu Summer in tbe city
(Fig.16). Both paintings aie uepicting some kinu of post-coital uepiession, best
ieflecteu in the woius 'C'est le piopie ues animeaux u'tie tiiste apies l'amoui'
('It's the natuie of animals to be gloomy aftei love), which was the title that
Boppei hau in minu foi the 1949 painting, but he changeu it, afiaiu that this title
woulu scaie off potential buyeis.
S2
The half-uiesseu giil in one anu a nakeu man
with his face shoveu in the pillow in the othei painting, iepiesent the woilu of
mateiial things anu sexual pleasuies, while the light that spills on the flooi anu
walls, iepiesent the woilu of thought
SS
, echoing the meuitative state theii
paitneis aie in. In Fxcursion to Pbilosopby, besiue the toimenteu man, with his
bouy static anu calm anu one of his feet touching the light spill on the flooi that
his eyes aie fixeu to, lays an open book that }o Boppei in hei uiaiy exposeu as
'Plato, ieieau too late'.
S4
uail Levin, Boppei's biogiaphei, inteipieteu these
woius as an implication of 'a ietuin to Platonic iuealism only aftei
expeiimenting with the specific attiaction of sex, anu finuing it less then
expecteu oi hopeu.'
SS
Besiues the inveiseu genuei ioles anu miiioieu
compositions, these two paintings that accompany each othei so well, emanate a
slight uiffeience in moou uue to the natuie of the light. In the eailiei painting,

S1
victoi Stoichita inuentifies the inteiioi with the woilu of cultuie anu exteiioi as the woilu of
natuie, wheie winuow acts as a bounuaiy between those two woilu. See Stoichita, p.44
S2
Levin, 1998, p.419, quoteu fiom }o Boppei uiaiy entiy foi Becembei S, 1949
SS
Wagstaff, 2uu4, p. SS
S4
Levin, 1998, p.S2S
SS
Levin, 1998, p.S2S.
S1
many iiiegulai-shapeu light spills of uiffeient coloi anu intensity, as well as the
high contiast of light anu shauow inciease the uiamatic tension of the image,
piouucing a feeling of suppiesseu conflict anu stiess. The latei pictuie, with a
noticeably lowei contiast anu a pale light that piouuces pastel tones, emanates
an apologetic moou of a man who has ieconcileu, oi is in the piocess of
ieconciling with, the ephemeiality of life.
Towaius the enu of his caieei
Boppei's canvases weie
giauually becoming moie
minimalistic, slowly evacuating
humans, even the fuinituie fiom
the inteiiois, finally satisfying
his cuiiosity expiesseu uuiing
his school uays, in uebates with
his fiienus anu colleagues uuy
Pne uu Bois anu Rockwell Kent
on 'what a ioom lookeu like
when theie was nobouy to see it, nobouy looking in even.'
S6
In 196S,
appioaching the enu of his life, Boppei painteu Sun in on Fmpty Room (Fig. 17)
ieuucing his subject to the baie essentials the wall, the winuow anu the
ghostly piesence embouieu in the stiong pale light coming out of the winuow,
leaving its tiansient impiint on the walls anu the flooi. The paiauox of painting
an image of a ioom that is not seen is iesolveu in favoi of puie vision, epitomizeu
in the two elements fiist one being the light as the ultimate souice of vision
anu suppliei of coloi in the natuial woilu, anu the seconu one being the winuow
view, symbolizing the paintei's vision anu the man-maue outlook to the natuial
woilu.

S6
Levin, 1998, p.S61 quoteu fiom 0'Boheity, "Poitiait: Euwaiu Boppei." p.8u.
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Euwaiu Boppei spoke veiy little of his woik anu he uiu not leave any explicit
statements iegaiuing possible symbolic inteipietations of his ait. 0n seveial
occasions, when ieauing symbolically chaigeu ciitiques anu ieviews of his
paintings, he woulu aumit a possibility of such ieauings but woulu iemain fiim
that he was moie inteiesteu 'in the sunlight on the builuing anu on the figuies
than in any symbolism'.
S7
But in spite his negative stance anu eviuent lack of
intention to auu hiuuen meanings in his woik, ait ciitics felt that theie was moie
in his paintings than what is iepiesenteu, anu kept seaiching foi ways anu
means to tianslate this piesence. Pamela N. Koob iightfully obseives that 'the
climate in which he emeigeu as an aitist was imbueu with symbolist piioiities,
such as cieative iole of consciousness, intellectual anu emotional content, anu
the use of suggestion, ambiguity, anu expiessive foim.'
S8
All these iueas, which
aie the builuing blocks of Symbolism, can easily be attiibuteu to Boppei's
peculiai Realism. Well ieau, Boppei was a keen aumiiei of Fiench Symbolist
poetiy, paiticulaily Bauuelaiie, Nallaim, Rimbauu, veilaine, whose veises, he
anu his wife }o, often quoteu to each othei in Fiench.
S9
Symbolist values
extenueu acioss vaiious bianches of ait anu philosophy at the time, anu weie
even auopteu by Boppei's acclaimeu teachei Robeit Benii, a steaufast Realist
who taught his stuuents that it is not the subject that matteis but the feeling that
the aitist has towaius his subject. Benii's teaching iesonateu thiough many of
Boppei's statements about his ait. Be famously saiu: 'Ny aim in painting is
always, using natuie as the meuium, to tiy to pioject upon canvas my most
intimate ieaction to the subject as it appeais when I like it most'.
4u
The woik of

S7
Levin, 1998, p.SS9. The comment was oiiginally maue to Katheiine Kuh, about the
inteipietations of the painting SeconJ Story Sunliqbt (196u)
S8
Koob, 2uu4, p.SS
S9
Levin, 1998, p.487
4u
Euwaiu Boppei, Statement Two in uoouiych, 1976, p.1S2
SS
ait, accoiuing to Boppei, shoulu ieflect the innei vision unique to each aitist,
anu was foi him the best channel foi communicating with the woilu. The final
pictuie woulu iueally be a synthesis of the aitist's thoughts, emotions anu
memoiies. The simplicity of foim anu lack of uetails is what gives Boppei's
canvases this suiieal feel, making his sceneiies appeai slightly aitificial anu his
Realism moie subjective anu uieamlike. So stiippeu of supeifluous uetails,
Boppei's paintings seem moie like iecollections of half foigotten memoiies oi
uieams, oi acciuental glimpses that pioviue not enough time foi the
vieweiaitist to pick up the tiniest uetails, leaving us only with a geneial moou,
anu a uistinctive, yet complex anu not easily uefinable feeling. }ust like in uieams,
colois in his painting aie moie viviu than in ieality, anu commonplace objects
acquiie a special significance anu monumentality. The countless vaiiations anu
ieappeaiances of these few selecteu elements that make it to a composition, such
as winuows, light spills, etceteia, ieveal some innei pattein of symbolism within
the aitist, iegaiuless of his intention. }ung calleu symbols 'natuial anu
spontaneous piouucts'
41
that appeai
unplanneu in uieams, uisclosing the hiuuen
pait of oui unconscious selves. Boppei, who
was veiy familiai with Fieuu's anu }ung's
theoiies, which in a gieat ueal influenceu
the ait of the twentieth centuiy, aumitteu
that the unconscious playeu a significant
pait in his ait when he stateu: 'So much of
eveiy ait is an expiession of the
subconscious, that it seems to me most of all
of the impoitant qualities aie put theie
unconsciously, anu little of impoitance by
the conscious intellect. But these aie things
foi the psychologist to untangle.'
42


41
}ung, 1964, p.SS
42
Euwaiu Boppei, quoteu in Lloyu uoouiich, 1976, p.164
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S4
The mouein ait biought along veiy subjective sets of symbols that coulu vaiy
fiom aitist to aitist, ieflecting }ung's woius that 'no uieam symbol can be
sepaiateu fiom the inuiviuual who uieams it'.
4S
This implies that no symbol has
an absolute meaning, anu that its meaning evolves thiough histoiy anu vaiies
fiom place to place. It is highly unlikely that the winuows in ait always have
some special significance foi they can haiuly be avoiueu in paintings of the
inteiiois anu exteiiois. In the woik of the olu masteis the winuows emeige
spoiauically as an inheient pait of the inteiioi anu exteiioi space. They appeai
alongsiue othei objects, as a pait of the backgiounu, a uevice foi incieasing the
peispective uepth oi the souice of light, but veiy often they aie loaueu with
symbolic meaning (especially in Renaissance paintings with Chiistian subjects).
The veisatility of the metaphoi makes any attempt of classification a complicateu
anu nevei-enuing piocess, but accoiuing to Caila uottlieb, the veisatility is what
maintaineu the inteiest in this symbol.
44
The winuow offeis multiple
inteipietations because 'it has thiee constituent elements (a fiame, an opening,
anu a supply of light oi uaikness) anu may have seveial accessoiy elements
(bais, a winuowpane, a scieen, a shuttei, a cuitain, etceteia)'
4S
All these
elements have been useu sepaiately oi in conjunction with one anothei fiom
ancient to mouein times, anu often in conflicting ways, making the ieauing of
these symbols even moie pioblematic. Fuitheimoie, uecipheiing pictuies anu
visual signs is all the moie uelicate, because theii meaning can be moie hazy anu
ambiguous than the meaning of the veibal signs. Bowevei, pictoiial symbolism
ielies stiongly on the liteiaiy one, anu moieovei, it only takes shape once it is
tiansfoimeu into woius. In hei uetaileu suivey on puiely symbolic ieauings of
the winuow motif in Westein ait, Irom tbe WinJow of 6oJ to vonity of Hon
{1978), uottlieb iuentifies thiee main souices of liteiaiy, anu inheiently, of
pictoiial symbolism: Biblical texts, folk tales anu psychoanalysis.
46

In meuieval ait loaueu with Chiistian themes, the winuow most commonly
stanus foi Naiy's viiginal motheihoou (fenestro crystollino), alluuing to the

4S
}ung, 1964, p. SS
44
uottlieb, p.279
4S
Ibiu.
46
Ibiu. pp.12-1S
SS
action of light (}esus) penetiating the glass winuow pane without shatteiing the
glass.
47
In paintings showing the theme of Annunciation, the viigin is often
placeu by the winuow, anu the metaphoi of the Incaination is fiequently shown
in a foim of the iays of light (oi alteinately a uove oi an angel chilu) penetiating
the ioom thiough the winuow. In Chiistian ait one motif can holu many
meanings, just as one meaning can be iepiesenteu thiough seveial motifs.
48

Bence, the winuow also iepiesents a poital to heaven (fenestro coeli) thiough
which uou can uescenu to Eaith oi man can ascenu to Paiauise
49
, as shown in
the scenes of the moiibunu, like Bosch's Beotb onJ tbe Hiser (ca.149u, Fig. 22) in
which an angel points to the beam of light seeping thiough the winuow with the
ciucifix, uiiecting the uying man towaius heaven anu not towaius sin luiing
fiom behinu the cuitains. The cioss shapeu inteisection of the winuow is
sometimes seen ieflecting on the glass suifaces, such as in the ciystal globes helu
by }esus uepicteu as Salvatoi Nunui.
Su
The winuow ieflection, inteipieteu by
uottlieb as a maik of uou, latei tiaveiseu to
moie seculai subjects, such as still-lives anu
poitiaits. Albiecht Biei, foi instance, was
famous foi painting the cioss-shapeu winuow
ieflection in the pupils of the people he
poitiayeu, echoing the famous uieek simile of
eyes as a winuow to the soul.
S1
Similaily,
winuows commonly stanu foi the five senses
S2
,
that chuich moialia instiucts us to use as
spiiitual (foi illumination) anu not as cainal
guiues (foi sin): 'Foi light enteis thiough the
oblique winuows anu the thief uoes not entei,
because those who aie tiuly on the look-out
holu theii senses always in check foi humility,

47
uottlieb, 1978, p.67
48
Ibiu, 116.
49
Ibiu. p.7u
Su
Ibiu, p.1S2.
S1
Ibiu, p.16S.
S2
Ibiu, p.2u4
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S6
anu into theii minus enteis the unueistanuing of contemplation but the vaunting
of oveibeaiing uoes not entei'.
SS
0ne of the moie liteial poitiayals of this
teaching, as seen in Figuie 19, shows the house shapeu like a heau, with
winuows iepiesenting eyes, eais anu nose, while uoois featuie as the mouth.
Anu finally, the illuminating powei of the winuows makes them as well a
metaphoi foi Sciiptuies, Apostles anu chuich uoctois.
S4
In the nineteenth
centuiy the winuow metaphoi became moie seculaiizeu but some Chiistian
ieauings, like the one of 'winuows as senses' anu 'eyes as winuows of the soul'
still lingeieu on, all the way thiough the nineteenth anu the twentieth centuiy.
Euwaiu Boppei was biought up in a veiy stiict Baptist family, but he outgiew
his ieligious upbiinging, ueveloping his skepticism towaius oiganizeu ieligion
anu setting his moial giounus in the wiitings of Ralph Waluo Emeison, an
Ameiican philosophei whom he aumiieu anu ieau fiequently.
SS
Emeison
piopagateu inuiviuualism anu 'iejecteu foimal ieligion in favoi of intuitive
spiiitual expeiience'.
S6
Foi the analysis of the woik of a highly skeptical man
such as Euwaiu Boppei, the Chiistian winuow symbolism that uiiectly iefeis to
mysteiies of Annunciation, Immaculate Conception anu othei uogmatic
teachings of the chuich will not be of much use in its oiiginal foim. But if we
tianspose the Chiistian analogy between bouse anu beoJ to Boppei's woik, anu
put ieligion in the moie bioau context of Emeisonian spiiituality, we can uiaw a
veiy inteiesting compaiison. While the seventeenth centuiy etching on Figuie
19, shows the house exteiioi, emphasizing the Chiistian moial teachings thiough
the motif of intiusion of sin by the means of the senses, the bouse,minJ simile in
Boppei is moie palpable in his inteiiois. In his matuie paintings such as City
Sunliqbt (19S4, ), Fxcursion into Pbilosopby (19S9, Fig.1S), Summer in tbe City
(1949, Fig.16), Womon in tbe Sun (1961, Fig.SS), Horninq in tbe City (1944,
Fig.SS), Horninq Sun (19S2, Fig.12) anu many otheis, the vacant enchambeieu
spaces intensify the intiospective state of minu, alieauy haunting the faces of the
figuies. The blankness of the walls, with no insciiptions, anu the lack of objects

SS
uottlieb, 1978, p.2u7, quoteu fiom uiegoiy the uieat, Eomiloe Xl in Fzecbielem (Nigne, Pl 76,
c.99S C, B).
S4
Ibiu. 2u8
SS
Levin, 1998, p.276
S6
Ibiu. p.14
S7
anu uetails that coulu auu to naiiative uesciiption of the scene, suggest a
meuitative anu spiiitual conuition. With his iooms, emptieu of fuinituie yet
inhabiteu by sunlight playing its cyclical peifoimance of light anu shauow,
Boppei suggests that the minus of his chaiacteis aie not ciowueu with mateiial
things anu possessions but aie occupieu with absolute iueas, self contemplation
anu puisuit of tiuth anu beauty. This uuality is best expiesseu in the paintings
such as Fxcursion to Pbilosopby anu Summer in tbe City (alieauy been uiscusseu
in the paiagiaphs about light in Chaptei 1).
Wheie in Chiistian symbolism winuows stanu foi souices of uivine illumination
thiough Sciiptuies anu Apostles, in a moie seculai veision they can be
inteipieteu as human senses, oi means foi acquiiing wisuom anu enlightenment
thiough philosophy anu ait. }ohn Bollanuei iefeis to the light spills falling
thiough the open winuows as 'the angels of moining |whichj biing messages of
thought, of the sense of something beyonu.'
S7
That sometbinq beyonJ, is the
souice of inspiiation of an aitist. }ust like the light enteis thiough the winuow
anu takes shape in touch with the winuow pane, the outsiue woilu enteis the
aitist's minu thiough the visual fielu, wheie it gets tiansfoimeu by the boiueis of
his minu oi his innei vision. This aitistic aim is summeu up in the quote by
}ohann Wolfgang von uoethe, which Boppei caiiieu in his wallet his whole life:
'The beginning anu enu of all liteiaiy activity is the iepiouuction of the woilu
that suiiounus me by means of the woilu that is in me, all things being giaspeu,
ielateu, ie-cieateu, molueu, anu ieconstiucteu in a peisonal foim anu oiiginal
mannei.'
S8
The empty ioom he painteu in Sun in on Fmpty Room (196S, Fig. 17),
peifectly envisions the metaphoi of the aitist's innei self. When askeu by Biian
0'Boheity what was he aftei on that painting, Boppei simply ieplieu: 'I'm aftei
NE'
S9
, giving Sun in on Fmpty Room the status of a self-poitiait, the last he evei
painteu.
6u
The intioveit that he was, his most ieliable channel of communication

S7
Bollanuei, 1981, p.1S9
S8
Levin, 1998, p.S4S, oiiginal quotation fiom uoethe to }acobi, Fiankfuit, lettei of August 21,
1774, in letters from 6oetbe (New Yoik: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 19S7), p.41.
S9
Levin, 1998, p.S61, quoteu fiom 0'Boheity, Americon Hosters, p.26.
6u
Sun in on Fmpty ioom is the penultimate painting in Boppei's oeuvie. The veiy last one is Two
ComeJions (196S), showing two actois bowing on the stage, which is commonly inteipieteu by
ait ciitics as the final faiewell of the two aitists, him anu his wife }o Boppei, who uieu shoitly
aftei.
S8
was the visual iealm, embouieu in the winuow view that captivates the attention
of his lonesome figuies.
The winuow view as a substitute foi the aitist's vision was an unueilying iuea
behinu the many of winuow poitiayals in Romanticism, such as Caspai Baviu
Fiieuiich's paii WinJow on tbe left anu WinJow on tbe Riqbt {co 180S-06), in
which winuows occupy a cential place, evolving fiom motif to a theme. Put siue
by siue, like in Fig. 2u anu Fig. 21, the two winuows seem like two eyes into the
woilu. By not showing othei aitist's tools, the easel, paint oi even the posing
mouels oi still-lives, Fiieuiich suggests not only the iole of the aitist as an
obseivei but also states that the aitist's inspiiation anu themes shoulu thiive
fiom his innei vision. Be expiesseu this iuea by uepicting the winuows of his
stuuio, which he founu so peisonal foi they have piobably engageu him in a
peipetual piocess of gazing anu contemplation. Bis woius: 'The paintei shoulu
not paint meiely what he sees in fiont of him, but also what he sees within
himself. If he sees nothing within, he shoulu not paint what he sees befoie him'
61
,
match many of Boppei's statements on self-ieflexivity of his ait. But the
objectiveness of the winuow view, anu ieliability of vision as the souice of tiuth
was put in question by twentieth centuiy symbolism of suiiealist aitists such as
Ren Nagiitte anu Naicel Buchamp, both Boppei's contempoiaiies.

61
Caspai Baviu Fiieuiich, quoteu in Koeinei, 199u. p.4S
S9


















































4u

Nagiitte, who almost obsessively painteu winuows thioughout his caieei, useu
these uevices to challenge the obseiveis' pieconuitioneu peiceptions of ieality.
0ne of the countless examples of such piactice is to be founu in his 19S6 painting
Key to tbe IielJs (lo clef Jes cbomps, Fig. 24)
62
, in which he uepicts a lanuscape
fiameu by a bioken winuow. The pieces of glass on the flooi aie the missing
paits of the lanuscape outsiue. Fiom a means to extenu vision, the winuow now
becomes a means to uemonstiate its limitations. 'The main thing', Nagiitte wiote
to Bieton in 19S4, 'was to eliminate the uiffeience between what is seen fiom
outsiue the winuow anu what is seen fiom insiue'
6S
. This, he most accuiately
uemonstiateu in the painting ln Proise of Biolectics (Fig. 2S). The painting shows
an outsiue view of a builuing faaue, whose open winuow exposes a mixtuie of
inteiioi anu exteiioi of anothei builuing, with anothei five winuows. The title of
the painting evokes the famous Begelian uialectic methou, of thesis anu
antithesis, iesponuing with a challenging paiauox to Begelian pioblem in which
an inteiioi with no exteiioi coulu itself haiuly constitute an inteiioi.
0ne of Buchamp's ways to point the fingei at the ueceitfulness of the human
senses was his famous Reauymaue Iresb WiJow (192u, Fig. 2S). According to the
Tate Gallery, which holds the art piece: By denying any view through the window,
and murkily reflecting the viewer instead, it indicates Duchamps rejection of the
traditional notion of painting as a window onto the world.
64
The object is a closeu
pale blue Fiench winuow, with eight uaikeneu glass panes but the pun in the
title (Fiench Winuow - Fiesh Wiuow), uenotes the iecent ueath of a husbanu.
6S

Caila uottlieb tiaces the ueath symbolism of a uaikeneu winuow back to the
folkloie tales. 'Folkloie consiueis the winuow as the means thiough which the
soul escapes. Bence the winuow must fiist be openeu when somebouy uies, so
that the soul can uepait unhinueieu, anu then closeu, so that the soul cannot

62
in Fiench 'La clef ues champs' colloquially means libeiation, the winuow thus becomes the
gateway to fieeuom.
6S
Waigo, p.SS quoteu fiom B. Sylvestei, Nagiitte: The Silence of the Woilu, Bouston anu New
Yoik, 1992, p. 298.
64
Display caption in Tate Gallery, London, quoted in ueishenson Smith, p.S4
6S
uottlieb, 1978, p.S16
41
ietuin to haunt the place'.
66
In painting anothei big symbol of the tiansience of
life, a human scull oi vonitos is often placeu upon the winuow sill. The moiibunu
feeling that many ait ciitics uesciibeu in Boppei's painting can be to a ceitain
extent attiibuteu to the piesence of uaikeneu winuows. Naigaiet Iveisen, in hei
1998 essay ln tbe BlinJ IielJ: Eopper onJ tbe 0nconny, attiibutes the uncanny
feeling to the piesence of what she calls a 'ueath uiive'.
67
She uiscoveis this
moiibunu auia in paintings such as Automot (1927), SunJoy (1926) anu Eotel
WinJow (19S6, Figuie 26). The fiist painting, which shows a young giil all alone
in the night caf, with the massive uaik winuow behinu hei ieflecting the ceiling
lights, might invoke this ueath uiive feeling by suggestion of the luiing uangei
foi a woman who walks alone at night. But the lattei two paintings, uepicting olu
people, inueeu seem to insinuate the tiansience of life. The hotel ioom playing
the pait of the limbo, hosts the elueily lauy, well uiesseu with hei coat lightly
thiown ovei hei shoulueis, gazing into the stiff blackness of the night as if ieauy
foi the jouiney into the unknown. 0nce again the Chiistian symbolism of
winuows as a poital foi a man to ascenu to heaven (oi hell) takes a mouein,
moie philosophical shape.














Finally, what is left to consiuei aie the few examples among Boppei's paintings
that featuie the motif of the winu enteiing thiough the winuow, embouieu in the
billowing of the cuitains. This lyiical anu highly sensual image featuies in some

66
uottlieb 1978, p.S1S
67
Iveisen, 1998, p.417
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42
of his eailiest woiks, such as Tbe 0pen WinJow (1918, Fig.27), Fveninq WinJ
(1921, Fig.28), Niqbt WinJows (1928, Fig. 4S), anu in latei ones like Summertime
(194S). All but the last one show women in theii intimate inteiiois. The two
eaily etchings poitiay veiy young females, completely nuue, caiesseu with the
bieeze coming fiom outsiue. In Fieuuian teims 'the winuows, as entiances anu
exits of iooms, come to mean the openings of the bouy'
68
. Theiefoie the winu
penetiating the ioom thiough an open winuow suggests the lose of viiginity.
This metaphoi opeiates on similai giounus as the olu Chiistian symbol of Naiy's
Immaculate Conception, wheie insteau of spiiit embouieu in the beam of light
that passes thiough the pane without biaking it, the viial foice peisonifieu in the
winu penetiates thiough the open winuow, gently playing with the winuow
uiape. The Fieuuian ieauing of uefloiation is symbolically uesciibeu in the
veises of one of Boppei's favoiite poets
69
, Robeit Fiost.












Lovers, forget your love,
And listen to the love of these,
She a window flower,
And he a winter breeze.
|...j
Be maikeu hei thiough the pane,
Be coulu not help but maik,
Anu only passeu hei by
To come again at uaik.
7u



68
Sigmunu Fieuu, Einfhiung, Psychoanalyse, quoteu in uottlieb, p. S18
69
Refeiences of Boppei ieauing anu aumiiing Robeit Fiost, can be founu in Levin, p.S82,S99,
41S, 487.
7u
WinJ onJ WinJow Ilower, by Robeit Fiost, fiist publisheu in "A Boy's Will" (191S)
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If we compaie the two etchings, we can't help but notice the uiffeience in moou
between the two. It almost seems like the eailiei one is the afteimath of the latei
image. In Fveninq WinJ, the giil leans foiwaiu with cuiiosity anu consent, while
the winu foicefully lifts up the cuitain. Bei postuie anu the biightness that
shines fiom outsiue of the winuow imbues the pictuie with optimism anu
vitality. The othei image emits a less cheeiful moou, with the opaque night
winuow anu the foice of the winu subsiuing. Bei postuie unveils sauness, as if
she has been abuseu oi left alone, coiiesponuing to the concluuing veise of
Fiost's poem:
But the flowei leaneu asiue
Anu thought of naught to say,
Anu moining founu the bieeze
A hunuieu miles away.

In this chaptei, we have ievieweu some tiauitional anu mouein symbolic
ieauings of the winuow, fiom Chiistian ait, thiough folkloie, mouein ait anu
psychoanalysis. The examples of the use of this motif in ait histoiy aie vast, but
the few we have exploieu in this text seiveu well foi cieating associative links
with the winuows in the paintings of Euwaiu Boppei. As I have aigueu in the
beginning, Boppei, who openly showeu his inteiest in all the gieat souices of
symbolism of his time such as Fieuu's psychoanalysis, Suiiealism anu
Symbolist poetiy iefuseu any iuea of conscious manipulation with symbolism,
whilst nevei uenying the possibility of unconscious camouflage of symbols in his
paintings. This chaptei uoes not exhaust the metaphoiic ieauings of the winuow
in Boppei's ait but some fuithei inteipietations, like the compaiison between
the winuow anu the cinema scieen, will be uiscusseu moie closely in the
following chapteis in ielation to voyeuiism.

44

CZ "I& >'L&N* ;''W


Wboever leoJs o solitory life onJ yet now onJ tben wonts to ottocb bimself somewbere,
wboever, occorJinq to cbonqes in tbe time of Joy, tbe weotber, tbe stote of bis business,
onJ tbe like, suJJenly wisbes to see ony orm ot oll to wbicb be miqbt clinq - be will not be
oble to monoqe for lonq witbout o winJow lookinq on to tbe street.
Ironz Kofko, Tbe Street WinJow

Thioughout his caieei Euwaiu Boppei consistently iemaineu in the iealm that
falls between two opposing tienus of his time: the puie foimalistic anu
uecoiative appioach of abstiact ait, anu the liteiaiyuesciiptive methou of many
Realist anu Natuialist painteis that involves stoiytelling thiough images. Be
painteu iealistic situations without iesoiting to the anecuotal because he was
well awaie that by leaving things unsaiu, the pictuies incomplete anu situations
uniesolveu, he was able to stimulate the cuiiosity of the spectatoi. Even his wife,
}o Boppei, who kept uetaileu notes about his paintings, often nameu the
chaiacteis, auuing few uetails of hei own imagineu naiiative. 0n his 19Su
painting Cope CoJ Horninq (Fig.29), she iemaikeu that the woman looking out of
the winuow seems like she's checking 'if the weathei was goou enough to hang
out hei wash'. To this, Boppei piotesteu: 'Biu I say that. Youi making it a
Noiman Rockwell. Fiom my point of view, she's just looking out the winuow.'
71

With these woius Boppei points out the cential theme of many of his paintings:
the act of looking oi being lookeu at. Cope CoJ Horninq synthesizes these two
complementing positions, in which the uesiie to see implies the possibility of
being seen. Boppei plays with the uouble act of looking, putting the spectatoi in
the position of the voyeui, while at the same time involving the spectatoi by
iuentification with the woman in the painting.

71
Koob, 2uu4, p.66
4S













Boppei instills the winuow with some kinu of magnetism, an invisible foice that
attiacts his chaiacteis pieuominantly women similaily to the seventeenth
centuiy Butch inteiioi genie painting of }ohannes veimeei. But unlike
veimeei's, Boppei's inteiiois iaiely ieveal something homelike. They aie often
uepeisonalizeu tiansitional spaces like hotel iooms, oi uniuentifiable vacant
iooms that iaiely offei many telling uetails oi have any peisonal chaiactei. This
estiangement fiom home was the key attiibute of moueinity, intiouuceu with
Bauuelaiie's flnerie oi love of wonueiing, which he uesciibeu in his well-known
text Tbe Pointer of HoJern life (186S). Bauuelaiie's flneur stiolls aimlessly
aiounu the city stieets, 'taking a lively inteiest in things, even the most tiivial in
appeaiance'
72
, closely obseiving the ciowu, anu cieating ait anu poitiaits fiom
the people he obseives. Like Bauuelaiie's 'paintei of mouein life', Boppei spent
long houis walking aiounu the city, looking into people's winuows anu gazing
thiough the winuow of New Yoik's elevateu tiain.
7S
Bis fiienu Beiman uulack
iecalls seeing him in a local uinei with his foou intact on the table. Boppei
explaineu he was only pietenuing to be a customei in oiuei to obseive the view
thiough the winuow
74
, much like Eugai Allan Poe's naiiatoi in Tbe Hon of tbe
CrowJ
7S
, which Bauuelaiie iefeienceu in his text to exemplify the cuiiosity of a
genius, one of the uiiving foices of the flneur. But as much as he was inteiesteu
in human conuition, Boppei omitteu natuialistic uesciiption, having no inteiest

72
Bauuelaiie, 186S, Tbe Pointer of HoJern life
7S
Levin, 1998, p.27u
74
Levin, 1998, p.S18 fiom Levin's inteiview with Beiman uulack Aug 24
th
, 1991
7S
Poe's shoit stoiy Tbe Hon of tbe CrowJ was fiist publisheu in 184u in Lonuon
<KQON& ?Y ^ 6&E# 648 -4*('(AT 8YUH <KQON& CH R IGG'3# '( & D>&// 6')7T 8YUC
46
in lowei social gioups, uiinkeis, ciiminals, beggais, oi the theme of uieat
Bepiession that hau stiuck uuiing the most fiuitful yeais of his caieei. Bis
subjects weie solitaiy white miuule-class auults, uetacheu fiom one anothei anu
entiiely pieoccupieu with theii own thoughts. Not one of his pictuies shows big
ciowus, oi uaytime activities in the busy uiban metiopolis. Insteau he favoieu
the eaily moining anu the late night, when the ciowus aie away, anu the uiban
lanuscape, with its lamp posts, watei hyuiants, ioofs, facaues anu winuows,
shows its uiveise siues, oi as Bauuelaiie woulu put it: 'now swatheu in the mist,
now stiuck in full face by the sun.'
76
Thiough his ait anu viewpoints he
expiesseu an ambiguous attituue towaius moueinity, evauing its most eviuent
testaments the colossal glass aichitectuie that staiteu floouing the big uiban
centeis, bluiiing the boiuei between insiue anu outsiue but in his own way
Boppei ieacteu to the moueinist conuition of tianspaience anu high visibility.
(See Fig.Su - 0ffice in o Smoll City) Be expiesseu his inteiest in this iuea when he
wiote about his fiienu, the fellow paintei Chailes Buichfielu: 'The sensation foi
which so few tiy, of the inteiioi anu exteiioi of a builuing seen simultaneously. A
common visual sensation'.
77
This bluiiing in which 'the stieet becomes ioom anu
the ioom becomes stieet'
78
, was iuentifieu as a uominant mouel of the twentieth
centuiy by Waltei Benjamin in his Tbe ArcoJe Project. The fiee-flowing
aichitectuie of Le Coibusiei anu Fiank Lloyu Wiight intiouuceu the space wheie
the "flneur goes foi a walk in his ioom."
79


76
Bauuelaiie, 186S, Tbe Pointer of HoJern life
77
uoouiich, 1976, p.7u. Boppei's aiticle Cborles BurcbfielJ: Americon appeaieu in Tbe Arts, the
issue of }uly 1928.
78
Benjamin quoteu in ueishenson Smith, 2uu9, p.214. Benjamin, Waltei. Tbe ArcoJes Project, Eu.
Rolf Tieuemann. Tians. Bowaiu Eilanu anu Kevin NcLaughlin, Cambiiuge: Baivaiu 0niveisity
Piess, 1999, p.4u6.
79
Ibiu.
47
CZ8Z 5 ='V#* #+ +I& =K*L'M

In hei 1989 essay Tbe lnvisible Ilneuse, }anet Wolff questioneu the possibility of
the female counteipait to Bauuelaiie's flneur, explaining how the pievailing
attituue in the nineteenth centuiy towaius women walking unchapeioneu in the
stieets was highly uisappioving, both foi theii safety anu foi theii ieputation.
8u

The male flneur, on the othei hanu, coulu get himself lost in the ciowus anu
enjoy his piivilege to obseive unuistuibeu, without calling too much attention to
himself. As an answei to Wolff's pioblem of the 'invisible flneuse', in hei 2uu9
uisseitation IromeJ: Tbe lnterior Womon Artist-0bserver in HoJernity, Rebecca
Anne ueishenson Smith aigues that the 'woman at the winuow' can be iegaiueu
as a counteipait to the male wanueiei, calling hei the 'aichetypal moueinist
figuie belonging in a categoiy with the flneur anu actually iichei moie
evocative anu complex in key ways.'
81
Although she bases hei inquiiy on the
liteiatuie of mostly fin-ue-siecle feminist wiiteis, such as viiginia Woolf, Amy
Levy anu otheis, ueishenson Smith uoes not fail to ieveal the uominance of this
motif in ait, photogiaphy anu film. She fuithei explains that a woman at the
winuow is 'a figuie that moueinist ciitics can also miss piecisely because she is
not mouein, oi is not thought to be'
82
, iefeiiing to the long tiauition of this motif
in ait, fiom the viigin Naiy at the winuow sill in meuieval painting to countless
examples fiom uiveise ait movements of the nineteenth anu twentieth centuiies.
}osephine Nivson hei maiuen name befoie she maiiieu Boppei shaieu hei
views with many of the feminist wiiteis of hei time. She was a stiuggling paintei,
anu in hei uiaiy she often accuseu hei husbanu foi his negative attituue to hei
woik oi the woik of othei women painteis. Not hiuing his piejuuice towaius
women, Boppei was fai fiom piopagating feminism with his thoughts anu
opinions, but his woik, neveitheless, captuies pait of the changing atmospheie
towaius women anu theii iights. }o, who often iefeiieu to Euwaiu's paintings as

8u
ueishenson Smith, 2uu4, p.84
81
Ibiu. p.6
82
Ibiu.
48
'oui chiluien'
8S
, was his mouel foi all of his female chaiacteis, which may have
been the ieason foi such an honest, non-iuealizeu uepiction of a nuue female
nuue bouy. At the same time, hei iepiesseu yeaining to establish heiself as a
female paintei may have been piojecteu onto the canvas. Boppei's women,
gazing thiough the winuow, aie entiusteu with the powei of the cuiious gaze of
an aitist. Lutz Keopnick equates the act of winuow looking to the act of wiiting
oi ieauing poetiy, saying that 'what matteis most to the winuow-lookei is not
whethei the woilu as he sees it in the winuow fiame ieally exists but whethei it
helps him to feel inspiieu, eniicheu, anu stimulateu'.
84
It is piecisely at this
thiesholu between the public anu the piivate spheie that a woman posits heiself
in ielation to hei suiiounuings. 'Looking out the winuow becomes associateu
with locating oneself in the woilu panoiama by negotiating one's most peisonal
anu inuiviuual piactices, thoughts, anu feelings with politics, histoiy, anu social
anu familial ielationships.'
8S
The winuow view pioviues the backuiop foi
contemplation anu self-ieflection, assuming the figuiative iole of a miiioi. These
women aie stiippeu of theii clothing anu thus uevoiu of all the social constiaints,
they aie ieuuceu to theii baie selves. Theii nuuity anu theii powei of gaze
piovoke opposite inteipietations. 0n the one hanu, these women seem stiong,
libeiateu, anu in contiol, while on othei they seem fiagile, exposeu anu ciaving
foi contact with the outsiue woilu.
86

In the tiauition of Euiopean oil painting, the nuue was establisheu as a genie
wheie the nakeu human bouy, mostly female, is tieateu as an aitistic object but
most impoitantly a sight to be seen. The nakeu woman on these pictuies aie
passive but awaie of theii nuuity anu of the spectatoi, whom they look stiaight
in the eyes.
87
In his book Woys of seeinq, }ohn Beigei explains that slight
uiffeience between nakeuness anu nuuity. Be says: 'To be nakeu is to be oneself.

8S
Levin, 1998, p.281
84
Koepnick, 2uu7, Fiaming Attention, p.2
8S
ueishenson Smith, 2uu9, p.228
86
The motif of a nuue looking out of the winuow appeais as eaily as 1918 anu 1921 in the
etchings 0pen WinJow anu Fveninq WinJ, followeu by paintings Fleven AH (1926), Horninq in o
City (1944), A Womon in tbe Sun (196S). The vaiiation on the subject is a woman on the winuow,
in hei unueiweai oi fully uiesseu as in Fost SiJe lnterior (etching 1921), Room in Brooklyn
(19S2), Cope CoJ Horninq (19Su), Horninq Sun (19S2), City Sunliqbt (19S4), anu men looking out
of the winuow in Eotel by tbe RoilrooJ (19SS) anu 0ffice in o Smoll City (19SS).
87
Beigei, 1972, p.S4
49
To be nuue is to be seen nakeu by otheis anu yet not iecognizeu foi oneself.'
88

Beigei says that the tiue piotagonist of these nuue paintings aie not the women,
but the 'spectatoi in fiont of the pictuie, anu he is piesumeu to be a man.'
89

While the majoiity of nuue paintings weie conceiveu in this way, theie aie still a
few cases wheie the woman is show as heiself, while she happens to be nakeu.
This is often the case when the mouel on the pictuie is in an intimate ielation
with the paintei anu is theiefoie not theie to be seen anu objectifieu by anothei
men but seen as oneself. This was piecisely the case with Boppei, who hau his
wife pose foi most of his female chaiacteis. But if we neglect that fact foi a
moment, anu only look at paintings like A Womon in tbe Sun oi Horninq in o City
(Fig.SS), we shall see that Boppei's women aie not what Beigei consiueis nuJes.
They uo not staie seuuctively at the imaginaiy man out of the canvas anu thus
piotecting theii tiue iole of a piotagonist. They aie meiely nakeu, comfoitable in
theii own bouies, being themselves, without assuming some oveily feminine
postuie foi anyone's pleasuie. Theii uecision to be nakeu by the winuow ieflects
theii powei to look anu theii awaieness of the fact that to see means to be seen.
A veiy similai employment of the motif of a nuue at the winuow can be founu in
the woiks of Belgian film uiiectoi Chantal Akeiman, whose films baie a lot of
paiallels with Boppei's woik, both in teims of visual style anu in teims of subject
anu it's tieatment (See Fig.SS). The sense of self-impiisonment is most obvious
in the film }e Tu ll Flle (1976). A young woman, }ulie, playeu by Akeiman heiself,
is shown in an ongoing sense of uiscomfoit with the inteiioi she occupies. She is
ie-aiianging the fuinituie, slowly getting iiu of all unnecessaiy items, until she's
only left with the mattiess anu an empty ioom. She stanus nakeu by the laige
Fiench winuow, batheu in the biight white light. 0n anothei occasion she places
the mattiess at the winuow, blocking all the light fiom the outsiue anu sits in the
uaik coinei. Bays of self-impiisonment aie finally ovei aftei the moment of self-
iealization that comes at night, when the winuow tuins uaik anu she no longei
has to face the unknown woilu of the outsiue but can see heiself.

88
Beigei,1972, p.S4
89
Ibiu.
Su
The ovei voice (Akeiman) that, inteiestingly, speaks in asynchionicity with the
events that we see on the scieen uesciibes this final moment of iealization with
the woius: 'I heaiu footsteps. Someone was looking at me. I stoou still,
motionless, nuue. so the otheis passeis-by can see me. Few people walkeu by.
Aftei that, no one. It got uaik. 0nly latei, much latei, uiu I see myself in the
winuow'. This maiks the enu of the fiist pait of the movie the pait that is
uevoteu to the '}e' fiom the title as she opens the winuowuooi that she's
been staiing thiough foi uays anu biakes out to fieeuom, without evei closing it.
The motif of an open uooi, as a suggestion of a final escape, can be founu in two
of Boppei's paintings Tbe Stoirwoy (1949, Fig. S1) anu Rooms by tbe Seo (19S1,
Fig.S2). The lattei painting is often uiscusseu in the context of Suiiealism, mainly
because the seascape that we see thiough this winuow-like uooi, seems to make
the house levitate above watei. The escape conuucteu thiough this open
uooiwinuow woulu uefinitely be a peimanent one.













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S2
Akeiman continueu to exploie the motives of the nuue at the winuow, the female
gaze, solitaiy life anu unhomeliness in les RenJez-vous JAnno (1978, Fig.SS), a
woik whose visual style anu naiiative (oi iathei the lack of it) aie even moie
Boppeiesque. 0nce again, the piotagonist is a female with such impenetiable
opacity that by the enu of the film, we baiely know anything about hei. She is
noimally quite, eithei completely immeiseu in hei thoughts, oi listening to othei
people speaking, with little oi no eye contact. }ust like Boppei's women, she
finus heiself in tiains oi hotel iooms tiansitional places that offei tempoiaiy
sheltei. She opens the cuitains anu the winuows, as if expiessing some inhibiteu
neeu to unite with the outsiue woilu, but yet in hei encounteis with othei people
she iemains silent. Neai to the enu of the film, we finu out that she is a film
uiiectoi, a female aitist, whose mobile gaze figuiatively coiiesponus with the
long takes of the passing lanuscapes enfiameu by the tiain winuow.

CZ?Z "I& >'$K%& G#_&
Nobility anu the mobile gaze is yet anothei tiait of moueinity that came with
tiains, public tianspoitation anu peisonal cais. The Boppeis bought theii fiist
cai in 192S anu since then spent a lot of time tiaveling aiounu. They stayeu in
motels, ate in ioausiue uineis anu often pauseu to paint fiom the cai. The
implicit cai winuow view can be senseu in the countless examples of lanuscapes,
light houses, ioau siue houses anu gas stations in which Boppei even though
he painteu them fiom the static cai (see Fig.S8 of }o painting in the cai)
manageu to builu in this feeling of movement. They almost seem like snapshots
taken fiom the moving vehicle. Fuitheimoie, the iuea of tiavel anu movement
can be seen in numeious images showing iails, iushing tiains, anu the view fiom
the tiain appioaching the city. Boppei attesteu to his affinity with the panoiamic
view outsiue of the tiain when he commenteu on the 1946 painting Approocbinq
tbe City (Fig. S4) by saying: 'I've always been inteiesteu in appioaching a big city
SS
by tiain; |.j Theie is a ceitain feai anu anxiety, anu a gieat visual inteiest in the
things that one sees coming into the city.'
9u

In the chaptei titleu 0nJerqrounJ visions fiom his insightful book on winuows in
mouein ueiman cultuie, Irominq Attention (2uu7), Lutz Koepnick auuiesses the
new mouels of looking in moueinity anu the abunuance of visual sensations that
came with the iailway anu subway systems. The 19the centuiy iailways alieauy
pioviueu the sensation of a lanuscape in motion but the view fiom the elevateu
tiain that tiaveleu thiough uense uiban enviionments aiouseu the visual senses
to full capacity. In Eousetops (1921, Fig. S6) we see a young woman completely
immeiseu in the panoiamic view of the city ioofs. The man on the pictuie uoes
not seem to be as inteiesteu as she uoes. Similaily in Niqbt on Fl Troin (1918,
Fig.S7), the woman is cuiiously gazing out of the winuow, whose view seems to
inteiest hei much moie than hei chapeion. In hei inquiiy of female gaze in the
tuin of the centuiy Lonuon, ueishenson Smith associates the female
emancipation with the emeigence of omnibus anu public tianspoitation, which
pioviueu women with socially acceptable means foi obseiving the city sceneiy
thiough this new kinu of mobile flnerie.
91
But unlike the flneur who walks the
stieets aimlessly without a uestination oi plan, the mouein woman uses the
omnibus to tiavel to hei woik place, univeisity oi meeting.
92
(see Comportment
C, cor 29S, Fig. 8 in Ch 2) ueishenson Smith concluues that in liteiatuie omnibus,
the winuow anu the (photogiaphic) cameia weie useu as liminal objects to
auuiess the questions of women's connection anu sepaiation with the city, anu
filtei the view of the female stieet obseivei.
9S
Neveitheless, these thiee objects
iepiesent thiee uiffeient ways of mouein looking, coiielating anu inteitwining
in many ways.



9u
Levin, 1998, p.S88, quoteu fiom Euwaiu Boppei, inteiview by }ohn Noise, Art in Americo, 48,
(196u), p.6S.
91
ueishenson Smith, 2uu9, p.11S
92
Ibiu. p.11S
9S
Ibiu. p.1uu. The photogiaphic cameia is analyzeu in the context of Amy Levy's novel Romonce
of o Sbop (1988), in which the main female chaiactei iuns a photogiaphy stuuio.
S4























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<KQON& CF ^ M4.,#)4E,< 8Y?8 <KQON& C3 ^ H'A") 4( )"# C/ !*&'(T 8Y8[
<KQON& C[ ^ O4 '( ?74>'(A< 8YEF
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SS
Lutz Koepnick points out to one moie piece of the moueinity puzzle that
flouiisheu with the unueigiounu systems. While the above giounu tiavel maue
us 'incoipoiate motion anu speeu into the veiy piocess of seeing'
94
, unueigiounu
tiains with its uaikeneu winuows that offeieu no uistiactions, helpeu us to
cultivate what Koepnick calls 'the ait of colu conuuct' oi 'colu looking'.
9S
With no
uistiaction fiom the outsiue, people woulu tuin theii gaze inwaiu, shutting uown
the possibility of inteiaction anu avoiuing eye-contact. This colu conuuct anu
uetachment, so chaiacteiistic foi Boppei's canvases, was yet again captuieu,
now in the context of tiain anu subway tiavel in Cboir Cor (196S, Fig.S9). Each
passengei is uistiacteu with something else the view, the flowing patteins of
light on the flooi, a book, while the passengei on the left scans the woman with
the book, but we can imagine that she will look away as soon as hei look is
ietuineu. If we note foi a seconu the uates in which uiscusseu aitwoiks weie
maue, we can see a cleai shift fiom the cuiious, fixateu, piobing gaze of the
women in the eaily etchings anu the inuiffeient, uisconnecteu anu colu look of
the women in the late painting. Fuitheimoie, the fascination anu uesiie to look
at the vanishing sceneiy fiom the tiain anu subway winuows, coiiesponus yet
anothei mouein way of looking the cinematic gaze. Naybe it wasn't a
coinciuence that the biith of cinema was maikeu with Tbe Arrivol of o Troin ot lo
Ciotot Stotion.
96





94
Koepnick, 2uu7, p.127
9S
Ibiu. p.1S2
96
l'orrive J'un troin en qore Je lo Ciotot (Biothei's Lumieie, 189S), is often iegaiueu as a fiist
film evei piouuceu, followeu by the uiban legenu of people jumping unuei theii seats. Even
though it was piouuceu in 189S, the film was not shown in the fiist piojection in Becembei 28th
that yeai, but a month latei in }anuaiy 1986.

S6
CZC 1K,+#*P& '( +I& 9']&ON #*L +I& )K*&V#+KP G#_&

Tbere is notbinq more profounJ, more mysterious, more preqnont, more insiJious,
more Jozzlinq tbon o winJow liqbteJ by o sinqle conJle. Wbot one con see out in
tbe sunliqbt is olwoys less interestinq tbon wbot qoes on bebinJ o winJowpone. ln
tbot block or luminous squore life lives, life Jreoms, life suffers.
Cborles BouJeloire, WinJows

The theme of the winuow has always been attiacting aitist, painteis, wiiteis,
photogiapheis anu cineastes as a venue foi spying on ieal life anu witnessing the
piivate emotional anu physical iealm of othei people. Its iectangulai shape
fiames the events anu the chaiacteis behinu the glass pane, anu this in tuin
makes stiangei's lives become films oi fiameu paintings in themselves. The iuea
of peeking into othei people's winuows is often associateu with the teim
'voyeuiism', but it is impoitant to note that, by uefinition, a voyeui is a peison
who gains sexual pleasuie fiom watching otheis (often nakeu oi engageu in a
sexual activity). In moie geneial teims voyeuiism can be unueistoou as any
activity of uisguiseu obseivation of othei people. But obseiving people oi actions
thiough the winuow implies sepaiation of the spectatoi anu the object seen.
When we watch people thiough the closeu tianspaient glass suiface, we uon't
heai them speak, anu we aie foiceu to concentiate on the visual coues to
ueciphei theii actions, motivations anu states of being. The tianspaient winuow
pane acts like a membiane, which similaily to the winuow fiame, conceals paits
of infoimation anu fuithei stimulates oui imagination to piesuppose anu
ieconstiuct the naiiative behinu the glass. Incompleteness anu uistance aie the
key featuies of the voyeuiistic gaze.
With the pictuie fiame, the aitist ueteimines the uistance fiom which he paints
the figuies oi objects that aie pait of the inteiioi oi the lanuscape. It is
extiaoiuinaiy to notice the peisistence with which Euwaiu Boppei painteu his
figuies in what in cinema woulu be the equivalent of the long-shot (wiue
shot) wiue enough to show the full stanuing oi seateu human figuie. By using
the winuow, the aitist justifies his neeu to keep the uistance fiom his objects.
With iegaius to this, many paiallels can be uiawn between the woik of Boppei
S7
anu anothei gieat mastei of 'keeping the uistance', Fiench uiiectoi, wiitei anu
actoi }acques Tati. }ust like Boppei, Tati hau a gieat feeling foi aichitectuie,
which in his films is on pai with the actois. The ielationship of humans to theii
space, poitiayeu thiough biilliant mise-en-scene anu choieogiaphy, can only be
piesenteu in a wiue shot. But Tati was veiy much awaie of the intiigue anu
cuiiosity that is spaikeu when the viewei is kept fai fiom the object of his view.
In Ploytime (1967) the gaigantuan film set is almost entiiely built of giant
tianspaient glass panes, which togethei with the cameia lenscinema scieen,
iepiesent yet anothei fiont of sepaiation between the viewei anu the view. They
maintain the uistance to the chaiacteis, filteiing the sounu of theii woius, anu
shifting attention to theii bouy language anu postuie. Tati's chaiacteis, juuging
by theii exaggeiateu effoit to fit the steieotypes anu satisfy the noims of
conuuct, aie iatifying this newly imposeu state of high visibility. They paiticipate
without complaint in this voyeuiistic utopia, wheie winuows ieplace walls, even
in the 'piivacy' of a home. (Fig.4u)

<KQON& EH ^ :+K%% (N'V %/&7)'>#< 8YF3


S8
Boppei on the othei hanu, uiu not iesoit to ciitique anu satiie this new visibility
but iathei useu it to satisfy his scopic pleasuies anu to stuuy anu captuie those
moments when people act most natuially, as is the case when they aie
completely unawaie of being watcheu. Bis winuows anu angles of obseivation
ieveal a veiy peisonal outlook of a voyeui camouflageu by the uaikness of the
night. But the natuie of his look is not solely investigative. The voyeuiistic
peispective of the implieu winuow, unuiessing females anu noctuinal setting,
impose some sexual unueicuiient like in the two eaily paintings, Summer
lnterior anu New York lnterior (Figuies 41, 42). The postuie of the giil on the
fiist pictuie suggests some soit of emotional uistiess, anticipating the moou that
woulu pievail in the matuie woiks of his caieei. The seconu giil, with hei back
tuineu to the spectatoi anu hei haii moveu to fiont ievealing the uelicate lines of
hei shoulueis anu blaues, unueniably holus a note of eioticism. Such explicit
voyeuiism with eiotic oveitones is finally founu in his 1928 painting Niqbt
WinJows (Fig. 4S), which shows a lauy in hei slip, leaning foiwaiu, with hei
posteiioi facing the spectatoi. These women aie inueeu tieateu as a sight to be
seen tiough the eyes of the invisible male spectatoi, but in no way uo they
acknowleuge this act of spectatoiship. The ielationship of the winuow voyeui to
his object of seeing is thus iesembling the natuie of cinematic viewing.
In Niqbt WinJows, the thiee biight winuows put togethei foim one big biight
iectangulai patch, which beais a iesemblance to the cinema scieen, while the
suiiounuing uaikness coiiesponus to the uaikness of the theatei. In fact, if we
look closei, we can spot moie elements in this pictuie that biing to minu the iuea
of cinematic spectatoiship. 0nce again, by using the winuow like a cinematic
fiame, Boppei makes this scene moie secietive, '|gamblingj simultaneously on
the excitation of uesiie anu its non-fulfillment (which is opposite anu yet favois
it).'
97
The billowing cuitain inuicates motion, but also, just like the theatei
cuitain opens up a view to a spectacle, while the young female iepiesents the
element that stiis up the scopic uesiie anu the spectatoi's cuiiosity. In hei essay
Tbe Pleosure of vision onJ Norrotive Cinemo (197S), Lauia Nulvey one of the
leauing pioponents of feminist film theoiy intiouuces the concept of the 'male

97
Netz, 1982, p.77
S9
gaze', equating the woman with the image anu the man with the beaiei of the
look. 'The piesence of woman is an inuispensable element of spectacle in noimal
naiiative film, yet hei visual piesence tenus to woik against the uevelopment of
a stoiy line, to fieeze the flow of action in moments of eiotic contemplation'
98
. A
symbolic ieauing of the Boppei's noctuinal winuow as a cinema scieen expanus
the list of possible symbolic ieauings uiscusseu in the pievious chaptei.






















98
Nulvey, 1999, p.8S7
<KQON& E8 ^ D.>>#* 5()#*'4*T 8YHY <KQON& E? ^ H#1 P4*K 5()#*'4*T 8YHY
<KQON& EC ^ H'A") ?'(841,T 8Y?[
6u
Equating the cinematic scieen to the winuow became common in film anu meuia
theoiy, anu the olu Albeitian metaphoi took its mouein shape. When we think of
the winuow anu cinema, piobably the fiist thing that comes to minu is Alfieu
Bitchcock's cult film Reor WinJow (19S4), that even authoi himself pioclaimeu
his most cinematic film. In theii aiticle Eitcbcocks Reor WinJow: Reflexivity onJ
tbe Critique of voyeurism, Robeit Stam anu Robeita Peaison call this film "a
biilliant essay on cinema anu the natuie of cinematic expeiience".
99
Following
}ean Bouchet, who was among the fiist ciitics to note the meta-ieflexive aspects
of this film, Stam anu Peaison expose a uetaileu analysis of the meta-symbolic
tiaits in this film. Biuuen in the uaikness of his apaitment, photogiaphei L.B.
}effiies (}ames Stewait), obseives his neighbois thiough his ieai winuow.
}effieis' iole is that of a uiiectoi, while the othei chaiacteis who appeai in his
ioom aie like spectatois upon which he is imposing his inteipietation onto. Bis
injuiy immobilizes him in the wheelchaii, evoking the enfoiceu immobility of the
film spectatoi. With his binoculais anu his photogiaphic lens, }effiies can choose
the uistance at which he sees the spectacle, but he is iestiicteu by the
iectangulai shape of the winuow, that might leave the most impoitant events out
of fiame, spaiking the imagination even moie. }ust like cinema, the builuing on
the othei siue of the couityaiu is the meeting point of uiffeient aits, as its
apaitments house sculptois, musicians, uanceis.
1uu
That was maybe the ieason
why Bitchcock chose New Yoik's uieenwich village foi the film setting, foi this
neighboihoou hau been tiauitionally inhabiteu by aitists, Boppei being one of
them.
Euwaiu Boppei was an aviu theatei anu filmgoei. 'When I uon't feel in the moou
foi painting,' he saiu, 'I go to the movies foi a week oi moie. I go on a iegulai
movie binge.'
1u1
The influence of cinema on his woik has alieauy been uiscusseu
in pievious chapteis, in ielation to film lighting, fiaming anu composition.
Because of his uiamatic lighting anu familiai Ameiican iconogiaphy, his

99
Stam anu Peaison, 2uu9, p.199
1uu
Ibiu, p.2uu
1u1
Euwaiu Boppei quoteu in Fiench, Philip. FJworJ Eopper onJ tbe cinemo. This aiticle
appeaieu on p.7 of the 0bseivei Review section of the 0bseivei on Sunuay 2S Apiil 2uu4. It was
publisheu on guaiuian.co.uk on Sunuay 2S Apiil 2uu4.

61
canvases aie most fiequently compaieu to stills fiom Film Noii. But just like
Bitchcock's films, Film Noii aie action filleu male uiiven films with high
suspense. In Boppei's canvases suspense is achieveu by a clevei balance of the
voyeuiisticpio-filmic look, anu the safe uistance that uenies naiiative anu nevei
iesoits to the anecuotal. Cinema helpeu him ie-examine the concept of the aitist
as an obseivei that hau been uominating ait in the pievious centuiy. The
pioblem of cinematic spectatoiship that in many ways ieshapeu the way we look
in the twentieth centuiy, founu its place on Boppei's canvases both figuiatively
anu liteially thiough his night winuows. Be paiu homage to the cinema anu
theatei spectacle in Two on tbe Aisle (1927), Tbe Bolcony (1928), Tbe Circle
Tbeoter (19S6), Tbe SberiJon Tbeoter (19S7), New York Hovie (19S9), Iirst Row
0rcbestro (19S1) anu lntermission (196S). Bis lifelong affaiie with cinema anu
theatei was foieshauoweu in his veiy fiist existing oil painting Solitory Iiqure in
Tbeoter (c. 19u2- 19u4), anu beautifully anu symbolically iounueu up in his veiy
last painting Two ComeJions (1966), in theii final bow befoie leaving the stage.
62
)'*P%O,K'*

In the pievious chapteis I have tiieu to uemonstiate the iichness anu complexity
of the winuow motif in ait, but the stoiy of the winuow is much bioauei than what
falls in the scope of this essay. The ubiquity of this motif in ait makes any kinu of
systematization a haiu anu painstaking piocess. As we have seen, the winuow in
ait fulfills many uiffeient functions, anu is able to holu uiffeient meanings anu
symbolic values. In this iespect, Caila uottlieb explains that if we have to single out
the most impoitant featuie of the winuow, it woulu be it's 'ability to symbolize
antithetical paiis'
1u2
, such as the opposition between inteiioi anu exteiioi, light
anu uaikness, open anu closeu, which imply uiffeient inteipietations fiom the
meie social anu psychological wheie the winuow woiks as a site of connection to
the woilu, to moie abstiact ones, such as uuality between mateiial anu spiiitual,
goou anu evil, life anu ueath.
1uS
But uottlieb's antithetical paiis uo not exhaust the
complexity of the motif anu its significance. Focuseu on tiauitional inteipietations
of pictoiial symbolism, uottlieb's suivey ignoies the winuow's ultimate meta-
symbolic meaning - that of the aichetypal meuium. A winuow meuiates eveiything
that falls behinu its pane, cieating the "ontological cut"
1u4
of the woilu that we
peiceive, pioviuing both the connection anu sepaiation of the viewei with the
object vieweu. Theiefoie, each time a winuow is iepiesenteu in ait, (painting, film,
Tv) the connection is establisheu between this metaphoiical object anu the veiy
meuium with which it is uepicteu, a connection that is not only inteitextual, like in
Stoichita's examples of emeiging lanuscape genie, but meta-textual. This invokes
the famous Albeitian metaphoi that was ieviveu in iecent yeais by ait anu meuia
scholais, such as Anne Fiieubeig anu Lutz Koepnick, who iecognizeu this poweiful
potential of the winuow metaphoi, anu stuuieu its implications anu connections to
aits anu New Neuia.


1u2
uottlieb, 1978, p.S89
1uS
Ibiu.
1u4
Stoichita, 1997, p.Su
6S

Even piioi to twentieth centuiy which biought along many new concepts of visual
iepiesentation anu oveipopulateu oui enviionment with ieal anu metaphoiical
winuows the uepiction of these apeituies was wiuespieau in ait. Paiauoxically, its
omnipiesence uiu not incite a gieat inteiest among scholais anu ait histoiians, apait
foi the few mentioneu in this papei. In ielation to this Rebecca ueishenson Smith
states that 'the winuow's scholaily neglect anu cultuial peivasiveness aie testimony
to its eveiyuayness. Anu yet, this eveiyuayness is the souice of its veiy iichness. |.j
It is a site, that is, wheie metaphoi anu mateiiality aie iichly inteiwoven, wheie the
aesthetic anu social-political meet anu compete'.
1uS
Euwaiu Boppei was one of those
aitists who knew how to use eveiyuay objects anu infuse them with an extiaoiuinaiy
chaiisma. In seventeenth centuiy, Blaise Pascal famously saiu: 'Bow useless is
painting, which attiacts aumiiation by the iesemblance of things, the oiiginals of
which we uo not aumiie!'
1u6
But this is piecisely what Boppei so masteifully
achieveu. Be painteu locations, objects anu situations so familiai anu yet nevei ieally
seen in that light. By paying close attention to his most peisonal feelings towaius
simple objects like winuows, uoois, oi locations like uineis anu gas-stations etceteia,
he manageu to captuie on the canvas moie than theii meie appeaiance. Be
celebiateu theii eveiyuayness, iaising them to the status of cult objects. Within the
context of painteily Realism, he auuiesseu most of the social anu aitistic issues of
moueinity while at the same time nouiishing the link with his aitistic pieuecessois.
The winuows in Boppei's paintings aie so impoitant because, on multiple levels,
they connect to vaiious aspects of his ait. As geometiical shapes they suppoit
fiimness anu stability of the uesign anu inciease the visual uynamics of the
painting. In the inteiiois, they aie the main souice of light, which foi Boppei was
the main uiamatic agent that eniicheu the image with psychological oveitones.
Winuows offei a fixeu point of view anu tianspose thiee-uimensional ieality onto a
two-uimensional suiface, which points stiaight to Realism as his piimaiy moue of

1uS
ueishenson Smith, 2uu9, p.2S
1u6
Blaise Pascal, The Provincial Letters, Pensees, Scientific Treatises, William Benton,
Encyclopedia Britannica. (1987), p.196, no. 134 qtd. In Stoichita, p.29

64
expiession. Reluctant to tell stoiies, he useu winuows as uistancing uevices,
cieating a gap between the aitistspectatoi anu the objectspectacle. With his
nuues at the winuow he, maybe even unwillingly, auuiesseu the question of the
woman as aitist (anu the beaiei of the gaze) anu the woman as an object of the
gaze, the uichotomy that anticipates feminist film theoiy. Bis winuows also ielate
to all the new moues of looking that come with moueinity: fiom the cuiious gaze
of the aitist anu of the flneur, to the inwaiu self-ieflecting gaze that came with the
incieaseu inuiviuualism of the twentieth centuiy; fiom the mobilizeu gaze of the
moving vehicle to the voyeuiistic gaze in the uaikeneu theatie venue. The winuow
as a site of communication becomes a site of the 'spectacle' that just like cinema
unites the piactices of voyeuiism anu exhibitionism.
Twentieth centuiy offeieu vaiious winuow substitutes, fiom the silvei scieen to the
multiple winuows of the computei inteiface. With the auvent of television, oui
'winuow to the woilu', the similituue of the scieen to the winuow became even
highei. This new winuow was installeu in oui homes, anu insteau of the imminent
view of oui neighbois'' winuows, we ieceiveu images fiom uistant places, bioaucast
'live'. The Tv set, just like the winuow, became a pait of the veinaculai uomestic
inteiioi. The numbei of Tv channels kept incieasing, piopagating uiveisity anu
multiplicity of viewpoints, which insteau may have iesulteu in the homogenization
of the gaze. The television scieen offeieu the foim of uniuiiectional communication,
fiom the bioaucastei to the inuiviuual, incieasing the tension between the mateiial
anu immateiial (viitual) space. Looking out of the winuow as a site of
communication anu social inteiaction tiansfoimeu into the social activity of looking
into the television scieen, to the point of blinu unifoimity anu loss of one's own
peispective. When Bowaiu Beale, ietiiing anchoiman at the veige of a neivous
bieakuown in the 1976 film Network (uii. Siuney Lumet), invites people to shut
uown theii 'tubes', stick theii heaus out of theii winuows anu shout the famous
woius 'I'm mau as hell anu I'm not going to take this any moie', he is in fact
instiucting us to ievive the mouel of the intei-peisonal communication anu ueny the
illusion of ieality as piesenteu on Tv scieens.

6S
But insteau we ielocateu this inteipeisonal communication to anothei viitual
winuow - that of the computei scieen. With the help of cameias anu computeis we
have openeu new winuows into oui uomestic spaces, inauguiating yet anothei foim
of socially acceptable voyeuiism. Fuitheimoie, oui communication, oui piocess of
leaining (web-cam, inteinet), anu the pieseivation of oui memoiies (uigital
cameias) aie unueniably shapeu by the boiueis of the uominant iectangulai fiame.
The winuow's viitual substitutes cinema scieen, television scieen anu computei
scieen, competeu with each othei anu in that piocess have influenceu anu
tiansfoimeu each othei, but what they nevei abanuoneu was the conuition of the
fiame.
The veiy fiist cinemas, foi instance, weie nothing else than conveiteu theateis, anu
they ietaineu many theatiical elements, such as stage, cuitain anu uecoiative
oinaments that uistiacteu film auuiences fiom theii main focus point - the scieen. In
1928, aichitect Fieueiick Kieslei uesigneu an iueal cinema, in which he eliminateu
many of these ieuunuant elements. The next step, as he pioposeu in his 1929
manifesto BuilJinq o Cinemo Tbeotre, woulu be the piojection of moving images on
the walls anu the ceiling, all in the puipose of achieving the fullei immeision of the
viewei.
1u7
But the main consequence of Kieslei's pioposition was to be the total
ueconstiuction of the pictuie fiame, which pioveu to be one of the main expiessive
tools foi film uiiectois (as well as painteis, photogiapheis anu othei visual aitists).
This iuea, along with the utopia of 'viitual ieality' piomiseu in the 199us, nevei ieally
took off, because ultimately, the iectangulai bounuaiy that maikeu the sepaiation
between the spectatoi anu the spectacle, nevei ieally was a baiiiei to the full
engagement with the content within the fiame. This loyalty to the fiameu view is
maybe sufficient enough foi us to make an assumption that maybe it was the winuow,
as the piimaiy fiame, that influenceu how we have shapeu the aits anu mouein
meuia.

1u7
Fiieubeig, 2uu4, p.169
66
|page intentionally left blankj
67
AK$%K'QN#JI]
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Ceiteau, Nichele ue. 1984. Tbe Proctice of FveryJoy life. 0niveisity of Califoinia
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Belehanty, Suzanne. 1986. Tbe WinJow in Twentietb-Century Art. |exh.catj
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Beleuze, uilles. 1986. Cinemo 1. Tbe Hovement-lmoqe. tians. by Bugh Tomlinson
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198S as Cinmo 1: llmoqe-Hovement by Les Euitions ue Ninuit, Paiis
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renoissonce lineor Perspective CbonqeJ 0ur vision of tbe 0niverse. Coinell
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Eitnei, Loienz. 19SS. 'The 0pen Winuow anu the Stoim-Tosseu Boat: An Essay in
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Fiieubeig, Anne. 2uu6. Tbe virtuol WinJow: Irom Alberti to Hicrosoft.
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ueishenson Smith, Rebecca Anne. 2uu9. 'Fiameu: The Inteiioi Woman Aitist-
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68

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White, Keneth. 2u1u. '0iban unknown: Chantal Akeiman in New Yoik City'.
Screen S1:4 Wintei 2u1u

<K%V,`
}e tu il elle (1976, Chantal Akeiman)
lez RonJez-vous cbez Anno (1978, Chantal Akeiman)
Ploytime (1967, }acques Tati)
Reor WinJow (19S4, Alfieu Bitchcock)
Network (1976, Siuney Lumet)
7u

;K,+ '( <KQON&,

-V#Q&, '* +I& P'a&N J#Q&`
Top left: Euwaiu Boppei, Fleven AH (1926)
Top iight: Euwaiu Boppei, Sun in on Fmpty Room (196S)
Centei: Euwaiu Boppei, Niqbt WinJows (1928)
Bottom: Euwaiu Boppei, Eouse ot Busk (19SS)

<KQON&,`

<KQZ8 - Albiecht Biei, illustiation fiom his Tbe Pointers Honuol, 1S2S.
<KQZ? - Euwaiu Boppei in fiont of his house in Tiuio, photogiaph.
<KQZC - Euwaiu Boppei, view Across lnterior CourtyorJ ot 48 rue Je lille, Poris,
19u6, 0il on woou, SS x 2S.S cm, Whitney Nuseum of Ameiican Ait, New Yoik.
<KQZE R Euwaiu Boppei, lnterior CourtyorJ ot 48 rue Je lille, Poris, 19u6, 0il on
woou, Su.S x 2S.S cm, Whitney Nuseum of Ameiican Ait, New Yoik.
<KQZU - Euwaiu Boppei, Tbe City, 1927, 0il on canvas, 71,1 x 91.4 cm, 0niveisity
Ait ualleiy, 0niveisity of Aiizona, Tuscon.
<KQZF R Euwaiu Boppei, Irom Williomsburq BriJqe, 1928, 0il on canvas, 7S.7 x
1u9.2 cm, The Netiopolitan Nuseum of Ait, New Yoik.
<KQZ3 R Euwaiu Boppei, Forly SunJoy Horninq, 19Su, 0il on canvas, 89.4 x 1SScm,
Whitney Nuseum of Ameiican Ait, New Yoik.
<KQZ[ - Euwaiu Boppei, Comportment C, Cor 29S, 19S8, 0il on canvas, Su.8 x
4S.7, Piivate Collection.
<KQZY - Euwaiu Boppei, Iour lone RooJ, 19S6, 0il on canvas, 69.8 x 1uS.4 cm,
Piivate Collection.
<KQZ8H - Euwaiu Boppei, Cbop Suey, 1929, 0il on canvas, 81.S x 96.S cm,
Collection of Ni. anu Nis. Bainey A. Ebswoith.
<KQZ88 R Euwaiu Boppei, StuJy for Horninq Sun, 19S2, Cont ciayon anu giaphite
on papei, Su.4 x 48.1cm, Whitney Nuseum of Ameiican Ait, New Yoik.
<KQZ8? - Euwaiu Boppei, Horninq Sun, 19S2, 0il on canvas, 71.4 x 1u1.9,
Columbus Nuseum of Ait, Columbus, 0B.
<KQZ8C - Euwaiu Boppei, Conference ot Niqbt, 1949, 0il on canvas, 72.1 x 1u2.6
cm, Wichita Ait Nuseum, Kansas.
<KQZ 8E - Euwaiu Boppei, 0ffice ot Niqbt, 194u, 0il on canvas, S6.4 x 6S.8 cm,
Collection Walkei Ait Centei, Ninneapolis.
<KQZ8U - Euwaiu Boppei, Fxcursion into Pbilosopby, 19S9, 0il on canvas, 76.2 x
1u1.6cm, Piivate Collection.
<KQZ8F - Euwaiu Boppei, Summer in tbe City, 1949, 0il on canvas, Su.8, 76.2 cm,
Piivate Collection.
71
<KQZ83 - Euwaiu Boppei, Sun in on Fmpty Room, 196S, 0il on canvas, 7S.7 x
1u1.6cm, Piivate Collection.
<KQZ8[ - Euwaiu Boppei, Coricoture of tbe ortist os o boy bolJinq books by IreuJ
onJ }unq, ca.19S4, Pencil on papei, 1u.S x 7.9 cm, holuei unknown.
<KQZ 8Y - Coinelius ualle, Block Beotb Ilies in tbrouqb tbe CrookeJ WinJows,
Antweip, 16u1.
<KQZ ?H - Caspai Baviu Fiieuiich, view from tbe Artists StuJio: WinJow on tbe
left, ca.18uS-6, Pencil anu sepia on papei, S1 x 24 cm, Kunsthistoiisches
Nuseum, vienna.
<KQZ?8 - Caspai Baviu Fiieuiich, view from tbe Artists StuJio: WinJow on tbe
Riqbt, ca.18uS-6, Pencil anu sepia on papei, S1 x 24 cm, Kunsthistoiisches
Nuseum, vienna.
<KQZ ?? - Bieionymus Bosch, Beotb onJ tbe Hiser, ca.149u, 0il on woou, uetail,
National ualleiy of Ait, Washington, B.C.
<KQZ?C - Ren Nagiitte, ln Proise of Biolectics, ca.19S7, 0il on canvas, 6SxS4cm,
National ualleiy of victoiia, Nelbouine.
<KQZ?E - Ren Nagiitte, Tbe Key to tbe IielJs {lo Clef Je Cbomps), 19S6, 0il on
canvas. 8u x 6u cm, Thyssen-Boinemisza Collection, Nauiiu, Spain.
<KQZ?U - Naicel Buchamp, Iresb WiJow, ReoJymoJe, 192u, Nixeu meuia, object:
789 x SS2 x 99 mm, New Yoik Nuseum of Nouein Ait, New Yoik.
<KQZ?F - Euwaiu Boppei, Eotel WinJow, 19SS, 0il on canvas, 99.4 x 1S9.1cm,
Collection of Steve Naitin.
<KQZ?3 - Euwaiu Boppei, Tbe 0pen WinJow, 191S-18, Etching, 98x 12Smm,
holuei unknown.
<KQZ?[ - Euwaiu Boppei, Fveninq WinJ, 1921, Etching, 17.S x 21cm, The Biitish
Nuseum, Lonuon.
<KQZ?Y - Euwaiu Boppei, Cope CoJ Horninq, 19Su, 0il on canvas, 86.7 x 1u2.2cm,
Smithsonian Ameiican Ait Nuseum, Washington, B.C.
<KQZCH - Euwaiu Boppei, 0ffice in o Smoll City, 19SS, 0il on canvas, 71.1 x
1u1.6cm, The Netiopolitan Nuseum of Ait, New Yoik.
<KQZC8- Euwaiu Boppei, Stoirwoy, 1949, 0il on woou, 4u.6 x Su.2 cm, Whitney
Nuseum of Ameiican Ait, New Yoik.
<KQZC? - Euwaiu Boppei, Rooms by tbe Seo, 19S1, 0il on canvas, 7S.7 x 1u1.9,
Yale 0niveisity Ait ualleiy, New Baven, Conn.
<KQZCC - "#$%&#O - Top: Still fiom }e, tu, ll, elle (Chantal Akeiman, 197S)
Niuule left anu bottom: Stills fiom les RenJez-vous JAnno (Chantal
Akeiman, 1978)
Niuule iight: Horninq in o City, 1944, 0il on canvas, 112.4 x 1S1.9 cm,
Collection of Ni. anu Nis. Lawience B. Bloeuel, Williamstown, Nass.
Bottom left: A Womon in tbe Sun, 1961, 0il on canvas, 1u1.9 x 1SS.6 cm,
Whitney Nuseum of Ameiican Ait, New Yoik.
<KQZ CE - Euwaiu Boppei, Approocbinq o City, 1946, 0il on canvas, 68.9 x 91.4
cm, The Phillips Collection, Washington, B.C.
72
<KQZCU - Euwaiu Boppei, Tbe Fl Stotion, 19u8, 0il on canvas, Su.8 x 7S.6 cm,
Whitney Nuseum of Ameiican Ait, New Yoik.
<KQZCF - Euwaiu Boppei, Eousetops, 1921, Etching, 14.8 x 19.9 cm, The Ait
Institute of Chicago.
<KQZC3 - Euwaiu Boppei, Niqbt on tbe Fl Troin, 1918, Etching, 18.8 x 2u.1 cm,
Philauelphia Nuseum of Ait, Philauelphia.
<KQZ C[ - Euwaiu Boppei, }o in Wyominq, 1946, Wateicoloi on papei, SS.4 x Su.8
cm, Whitney Nuseum of Ameiican Ait, New Yoik.
<KQZ CY - Euwaiu Boppei, Cboir Cor, 196S, 0il on canvas, 1u1 x 127 cm, Piivate
Collection.
<KQZEH R Still fiom Ploytime (}acques Tati, 1967).
<KQZE8 - Euwaiu Boppei, Summer lnterior, 19u9, 0il on canvas, 61 x 7S.7 cm,
Whitney Nuseum of Ameiican Ait, New Yoik.
<KQZE?- Euwaiu Boppei, New York lnterior, c.1921, 0il on canvas, 61.6 x 74.S cm,
Whitney Nuseum of Ameiican Ait, New Yoik.
<KQZEC - Euwaiu Boppei, Niqbt WinJows, 1928, 0il on canvas, 7S.7 x 86.4 cm,
The Nuseum of Nouein Ait, New Yoik.