Hopper's paintings are frequently built around a vignette that unfolds as the viewer gazes into a window, or out through a window. Sometimes, as in "Railroad Sunset" (1929),"Nighthawks" (1942) and "Office in a Small City" (1953), it is still possible to see details of the scene beyond even after Hopper has guided the viewer's gaze through two panes of glass. When Hopper wishes to obscure the view, he tends to position the window at a sharp angle to the viewer's vantage-point, or to block the view with curtains or blinds. Another favourite technique—used, for example, in "Conference at Night" (1949),[http://www.artsfairies.com/Edward_Hopper/Hopper_Edward_Conference_At_Night.jpg—is to use bright light, flooding in from the exterior at a sharp angle from the sun or from an unseen streetlight, to illuminate a few mundane details within inches of the far side of the window, thereby throwing the deeper reaches of the view into shadow.