Trains.com

Chair Car

989 views
12 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    December 2003
  • 400 posts
Chair Car
Posted by martin.knoepfel on Sunday, May 15, 2005 2:04 PM
A painting by Edward Hopper, "Chair Car" has been sold for 14 Million US-$. Railroad-paintings seem to become expensive these days



[;)]



P.S. Hopper painted other railroad-subjects. Is anyone able to post a pic?
  • Member since
    March 2001
  • From: New York City
  • 805 posts
Posted by eastside on Sunday, May 15, 2005 3:16 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by martin.knoepfel


P.S. Hopper painted other railroad-subjects. Is anyone able to post a pic?
Go here:
http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/artists/Edward%20Hopper/index_hopper.html
or just do "Edward Hopper" in Google.
He did many:
Approaching a City
Compartment C, Car 293
Manhattan Bridge Loop
House by the Railroad
My favorite:
Railroad Sunset
None show running trains, mostly they include railroad motifs.
  • Member since
    November 2003
  • From: West Coast
  • 4,122 posts
Posted by espeefoamer on Sunday, May 15, 2005 6:43 PM
That "chair car" is really a parlor car[:0][8D]!
Ride Amtrak. Cats Rule, Dogs Drool.
  • Member since
    June 2001
  • From: Lombard (west of Chicago), Illinois
  • 13,681 posts
Posted by CShaveRR on Sunday, May 15, 2005 7:28 PM
Did Edward Chair do a painting entitled "Hopper Car"? [}:)]

Carl

Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)

CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)

  • Member since
    March 2001
  • From: New York City
  • 805 posts
Posted by eastside on Sunday, May 15, 2005 8:44 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by espeefoamer

That "chair car" is really a parlor car[:0][8D]!
Certainly that would have been the case if it had been a Pullman car, however, this was painted in 1965 -- post-Pullman era -- on a commuter train, and they may have well called it a chair car. Strange that where there should be an exit there seems to be a wall.
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, May 15, 2005 9:23 PM
He sure did some nice paintings.
  • Member since
    December 2003
  • 400 posts
Posted by martin.knoepfel on Monday, May 16, 2005 2:33 PM
The freight car in Truro is marvelous.
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Monday, May 16, 2005 2:45 PM
Carl, Hopper car is perfect!

I agree that it is a parlor car, regardless of era. "Chair car" seems, as I understand it, to have been originally railroad-speak for a slightly more luxurious coach. Instead of the single-unit, walk-over seats found, for instance, on commuter coaches, the implication was that chair cars would have two separate seats side-by-side, either of which might recline. But later, there seemed to be no real difference between "chair car" and "coach."
Individual seats that swiveled were always parlors, as far as I hyave heard the term used.

Larry
  • Member since
    September 2002
  • From: Rockton, IL
  • 4,821 posts
Posted by jeaton on Monday, May 16, 2005 3:43 PM
Is it the late Mr. Hopper? Either way at 14 mill he could probably give a rat's whether it is a chair car or a parlor car.

Jay

"We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo Possum "We have met the anemone... and he is Russ." Bucky Katt "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." Niels Bohr, Nobel laureate in physics

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Sunny (mostly) San Diego
  • 1,920 posts
Posted by ChuckCobleigh on Monday, May 16, 2005 4:03 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by jeaton

Is it the late Mr. Hopper? Either way at 14 mill he could probably give a rat's whether it is a chair car or a parlor car.

Jay


Hopper passed away in 1967. One of the great American artists, no doubt, and one of my favorites...even with non-railroad subjects.
  • Member since
    March 2001
  • From: New York City
  • 805 posts
Posted by eastside on Monday, May 16, 2005 4:50 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by jeaton

Is it the late Mr. Hopper? Either way at 14 mill he could probably give a rat's whether it is a chair car or a parlor car.

Jay
Yes, however, it mostly went to the owner, and you can be sure during Hopper's life he never sold a painting that got him anything close to 14 big ones. On that same link above you'll see Nighthawks, one of the most reproduced of all paintings by an American artist. It's at the Art Institute in Chicago, in the same gallery in fact as American Gothic, the most reproduced of American paintings.
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Monday, May 16, 2005 11:12 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by CShaveRR

Did Edward Chair do a painting entitled "Hopper Car"? [}:)]


I think you have that confused with the boxcars with shackles
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Monday, May 16, 2005 11:20 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by eastside

. On that same link above you'll see Nighthawks, one of the most reproduced of all paintings by an American artist.


It is funny how many different artists have tried to portray th e logical extension of the concept of Nighthwks, as IF they knew anything about what Hopper had in mind.

Strangely enough, Hopper did an additional painting that he described as the logical extension of concept behind Nighthawks, it is called "Sunlight inside a Cafeteria"
and here is a copy:

Join our Community!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

Search the Community

Newsletter Sign-Up

By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our privacy policy