Edward Hopper (American, 1882–1967)
Nighthawks
INV-1116
Edward Hopper (American, 1882–1967)1942
Nighthawks
Edward Hopper (American, 1882–1967) →Modernismmodern and contemporary artpainting
Date
1942
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
84.1 × 152.4 cm (33 1/8 × 60 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Friends of American Art Collection
About Nighthawks Edward Hopper recollected, “unconsciously, probably, I was painting the loneliness of a large city.” In an all-night diner, three customers sit at the counter opposite a server, each appear to be lost in thought and disengaged from one another. The composition is tightly organized and spare in details: there is no entrance to the establishment, no debris on the streets. Through harmonious geometric forms and the glow of the diner’s electric lighting, Hopper created a serene, beautiful, yet enigmatic scene. Although inspired by a restaurant Hopper had seen on Greenwich Avenue in New York, the painting is not a realistic transcription of an actual place. As viewers, we are left to wonder about the figures, their relationships, and this imagined world.
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