'Office at Night' of 1940 shows us a secretary looking at her boss with the annoyed expectation of someone who expects an overdue declaration of affection.
In Office at Night (1940), another “couple” painting, Hopper creates a psychological puzzle. The painting shows a boss focusing on his papers while nearby his curvaceous secretary pulls a file. Several studies for the painting show how Hopper experimented with the positioning of the two figures, perhaps to heighten the eroticism and the tension. Hopper presents the viewer with the possibilities that the boss is either truly uninterested in her obvious appeal or that he is working hard to ignore her. Another interesting aspect of the painting is how Hopper employs three light sources. Hopper went on to make several “office” pictures, but none with a sensual undercurrent.