“Portraits of America” The Two Artists Who Perfectly Captured Isolation and Loneliness And Understanding Their Solitary Vision of America

Isolation and loneliness are tropes often displayed through art, whether that be paintings or music. There are two artists that stand out in my mind when I think of isolation and loneliness portrayed through art.

Edward Hopper is widely acknowledged as one of the most important and influential realist painters of twentieth-century America. The Great Depression influenced his style, and his work certainly reflected that, as he gained a following capturing America’s shock during the aftermath of the First World War. Edward Hopper painted solemn, almost haunting, scenes that reflected the mood of the country at the time. An important piece of Americana, his art truly captures the image of inter and post-war America and the desolate isolation and loneliness of urban life. The figures in his paintings always seem to be lost in thought- caught up in unknown anxieties and angst. He rarely paints two people near each other or embracing each other, and when there does happen to be two people in the frame, they are rarely depicted showing any other emotion. You can see that although they are together, they are in completely different head spaces, truly bringing out what being emotionally isolated in the 20th century feels like.

Richmond Fontaine is a Portland-based American alternative country band, active between 1994 and 2016. They recorded eleven studio albums during these years. Thirteen Cities (2007) takes its name from the thirteen cities (Mojave, Albuquerque, Spokane, Yuma, Tucson, etc) visited by the characters featured within the album's thirteen tracks. All of the songs on this album focus on the lives that get swallowed up in the Western United States, those individuals on the bottom rung of the social and economic ladder who feel trapped and hopelessly cast adrift, creating a gritty aesthetic of 24-hour diners, highway truck-stops, decrepit motels, run-down racetracks, and casinos- the “forgotten” side of America, the neglected side that is swept under the rug, hidden from view of the rest of America. Richmond Fontaine's songs sound like loneliness, whether or not by choice. The characters they write about encounter tales of woe in the backwaters of America which are never told from the viewpoint of the perpetrator, rather we hear melancholic retellings from spectators standing away at a distance- a friend, lover, or some other bystander, understanding all too well that confrontation will only lead to larger problems for everyone involved.

There are a few stand-out songs on the album. “$87 and a guilty conscience that gets worse the longer I go” is a song that sounds more like a spoken word poem. With a bleary backdrop of pedal steel guitar and plodding percussion, this is the quintessential Richmond Fontaine song. “Capsized” is a drifter’s motel-loitering, bar-hopping life, laid out in just over three and a half minutes, with a country twang that makes for a nice change of pace, situated a little over halfway through the album.

Like Edward Hopper, Richmond Fontaine is, albeit much newer, a timeless piece of Americana. In two completely different mediums, both artists are able to encapsulate the feelings of isolation and loneliness through their art. If you enjoy melancholic country-style ramblings from the lives of imaginary yet all too real characters in the dust bowl that is the Western United States, you will definitely enjoy Richmond Fontaine.