A new interactive exhibit in Rome invites the viewer into the world of American realist painter Edward Hopper, starting with a stop at a bar bathed in the raw but unfocused light typical of his work.

The visitor can take a seat at a reconstruction of Hopper's emblematic Nighthawks alongside models representing the barman and customers. The exhibition at the Rome Foundation Museum in the centre of the Italian capital helps the visitor discover how Hopper, who lived from 1882 to 1967, worked to produce scenes of everyday life.

The paintings exude melancholy, with figures often alone and deep in thought such as the woman staring out of a window from her bed in Morning Sun.

The painting is shown along with some preparatory sketches covered with notes and arrows on each detail, noting the colours and shadings that Hopper planned to use.

In one room, visitors are encouraged to copy the painter's work by tracing it on images projected on paper.

Beyond major canvasses with trademark autumn scenes, the exhibit also includes some of Hopper's less well-known works such as a strikingly realist and emotionally evocative grey monochrome, Man Seated on Bed. "If I could say it in words, I wouldn't need to paint," he said of the work. Hopper, who worked mainly in New York, travelled three times to Europe, staying mainly in Paris, where he painted more classical oils such as Bateaux Mouches, Pont Royal and Notre Dame de Paris.

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