Nighthawks
Edward Hopper (American)
1942
First Impressions:
When first observed this spectacular painting by Edward Hopper, what first caught my attention were the three customers inside the diner, especially the man seated alone. Then, I took notice of the empty street and the glass window that "surrounds" the diner. The window is very interesting because the glass is so expansive, it made me look through it and at the same time, try to find an end. Trying to find an end was "hard" because the glass "cleverly" curves "away." It is not the only thing that curves around that corner; the table, the benches (the light/bright green) the olive green outlining, the shadow and the sidewalk. I believe that this makes you "start over," or looking at a different part of the painting, because this aspect is "annoying" to the (or at least) my human brain. I want something to end but nothing does. Additionally, the table is a triangle and will also "never end." When I look at this picture, I feel as if there is an off balance of "stuff" in this painting. The right side is emphasized, because this part of the painting is "weighted" and also it is different than the peaceful, empty side of the left side of the painting. Because the right of the painting seems as if it is "cut off," I often find myself looking to the far right and wanting there to be "more" of this painting, maybe because I want it to balance it out, and have the center of the painting as the emphasis. Nighthawks was definitely made the way it was for a reason, and it is certainly a magnificent painting to explore.
What I Learned:
Nighthawks is inspired by a diner that was in Hopper's home neighborhood, in Greenwhich Village, Manhattan, New York. This painting is in many aspects related to the attack on Pearl Harbor, which occurred right before Edward Hopper created this painting. As noted by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nighthawks , there is the same feeling of gloominess in this painting as there was across America. As said by http://www.artic.edu/artaccess/AA_Modern/pages/MOD_7.shtml,"painting reveals three customers lost in their own private thoughts." Hopper states: "unconsciously, probably, I was painting the loneliness of a large city." In this painting there is no door (visable) and it seems as if: "The viewer, drawn to the light shining from the interior, is shut out from the scene by a seamless wedge of glass." (http://www.artic.edu/artaccess/AA_Modern/pages/MOD_7.shtml) As said by http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/nighthawks/index.html, "no matter what the setting, Hopper painted from the outside looking in." When looking at this painting, you feel almost excluded, and everyone inside of the diner seems to be "in their own world," excluding the others around them. Better put is what is written by http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/nighthawks/index.html: "Behind the windows, a busboy stoops behind the counter, while three patrons, a man with his back to the window, and a couple facing out, sit in apparent silence. No door is visible, so even if a passerby wanted to interrupt their solitude, it would be impossible. There's just enough detail -- and just enough hidden -- to give viewers the opportunity to create back-stories for the nighthawks on their own." This painting truly does reflect solitude, and it does make us want to know the true story behind and about this painting.
This painting is Oil on Canvas, and is 84.1 x 152.4 cm.
Add-on:
Hopper creates a sense of unity by having everything in the painting either complement something else in the painting, by having the "lines" in come back, and by giving us a focal point. In this painting, the compliments are contrasts. We have a diner with a few people in it (some movement) on the right side, and on the left side, there is no sign of human life or any movement (three-quarters of the painting is "empty"1). This contrastive unbalance, in a sense creates balance. The leading lines of this painting does not necessarily lead to any place particularly, but because they do not "end," they bring the viewer back and forth among them, therefor settling the eyes in the middle of them. The focal point in this painting is the cafe, and by using all of the ideas presented above, Hopper makes this the focal point. The contrast of life, the contrast and the bright light from inside the diner to the darkness outside. I personally think that the man with his back turned to the viewer is the main emphasis of this painting because he is the only one wearing completely dark clothes, and he is "singled-out" (grouping). Hopper intelligently pulls this painting together with these attributes of unity.
