Analysis of Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks”

Amid World War II in 1942, Edward Hopper painted one of his most celebrated masterpieces,“Nighthawks”. A rectangular 5-foot wide canvas presents a corner diner in an urban environment frozen in the dark hours of the night, a scene lit by ceiling-mounted fluorescents eclipsed by a long lip of a flat roof balanced on thin beams bracing tall, wide glass windows. We’re voyeurs to the diner’s world, catching four figures dressed in black, blue, red, and white, who command our attention from the vacant street outside. Warm yellow walls illuminate the interior against dark blues and muddled greens outside while dancing facets of architecture guide us to the woman in red studying an object in her upturned hand. <img alt="" src="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:700/1*WhpWq7_gKyhYY5R-UlIPEQ.png" style="height:479px; width:700px" /> We enter the small world of urban dwellers, all gazing. Their sight-lines intersect toward what appears to be folded money being inspected in the woman’s hand, yet we can’t be sure — the lack of inscription leaves the viewer trapped in a paralleled wonder. <a href="https://joshuahoering.medium.com/analysis-of-edward-hoppers-nighthawks-e870474fdad9">Read More</a>