Edward Hopper's "The Long Leg" (1935) (Age of Anxiety)

Looking at Edward Hopper's "The Long Leg" painted in 1935, I began to get a sense of the relaxation and peace he painted with the calm of the ocean and sailboat. When I looked at the date it was painted, 1935, I began to connect it to a sense of the "Calm before the storm". Things in Europe were bad at this time, and people could begin to see that a conflict was on the horizon. This also made me think of the calm that was in the USA for the problems the world were facing were thousands of miles away across the Atlantic, where the USA could not easily get involved. The scene itself reminded me of the Hamptons, and this location for the picture makes sense in my mind since the painter lived in New York City. The colors used, primarily blue and white both send messages of purity, innocence and peace. No splashes of red or black to depict blood or death. Looking at the picture, one immediately senses calm and ease of a place far away where conflict does not exist, where simply the splash of the ocean waves on the beach creating a serene scene the is untouched by conflict. The painting helps me understand also what people back in the 30's enjoyed doing. Even today, one can still see thousands of people sailing at beaches as a getaway from reality and conflict.