Hopper's early illustrations provide evidence of his enduring interest in and use of the urban office theme (an unusual choice, art historically speaking). They reflect an awareness of and attention to the daily activities of America's white collar workers-- including women-- and to the class and status conflicts expressed in office environments. In offices, design is used to represent ideas about the nature of work and about the behavior and status of the people doing it. Through careful attention to office design and detail, Hopper developed a visual vocabulary by which to depict the modern office, and increasingly pared it down to essentials. By the mid-1930s, Art Deco styles had given way to streamlined design ("Industrial Art Moderne"), yet the Office at Night interior reflects much earlier standards-- like those Hopper illustrated here. Interestingly, Hopper chose to include the "executive desk," circa 1915, a form which expressed the conflict between rigid principles of scientific management and the design iconography of authority and status.

All illustrations from: System: The Magazine of Business, July 1915. [from Caroll D. Murphy article "Living Up to Your Employment System"]