An art museum has re-created an Edward Hopper painting of a motel room in meticulous real-life detail, and is allowing visitors to pay to spend the night in it.
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond is running the special exhibition, Edward Hopper and the American Hotel, through February 23, with the room modeled on Hopper’s ‘Western Motel’ as the centerpiece.
The room was available for packages ranging from $150 to $500, but is already been booked solid through the end of the exhibit.
Viewable through a glass window in the exhibit, the room meticulously simulates every detail of the Hopper painting — except for the mysterious woman in the burgundy dress.
Museumgoers view the room based on Hopper’s ‘Western Motel’ through a glass window at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
The room simulates every detail in the Hopper painting (above) except for the mysterious woman in the burgundy dress
Richmond resident Ellen Chapman was the first adventurous art lover to spend a night in the room, the New York Times reported.
‘I’ve always had that childhood fantasy of spending the night in a museum,’ Chapman told the Times.
‘The remarkable part for me was waking up, drinking my coffee and looking at this amazing exhibit right next to me.’
The exhibition features sixty-five paintings and works on paper by Hopper, who lived from 1882 to 1967.
A chronicler of modern American life, Hopper frequently depicted hotels, gas stations and restaurants in his work.
A visitor sits in the room re-created the pose from the painting. The room is being rented out nightly through February 23
A view of the room is seen from the inside looking out into the exhibition gallery. Guests can pay $150 to $500 to stay in the room, but it has been booked solid through the end of the show in February
With his wife Josephine, he frequently took road trips across the country in search of subject matter.
In addition to Hopper’s work, the VMFA exhibit also features thirty-five works by other artists including John Singer Sargent, David Hockney, Berenice Abbott, and others who explored similar themes.
Leo G. Mazow, the show’s curator, told the Times that he intends the Hopper room to do more than just generate buzz.
‘So many people say, ‘Well, Hopper’s about alienation,” he said.
But Mazow insists that Hopper’s themes of ‘transience and transportation yield a particular type of detachment,’ which he says the hotel experience explores.
