Art Collage JANG: Interesting Art Stories: 46. Nighthawks, Edward Hopper, ACJ Art Academy

How are you?

Currently, I am introducing the stories about various artists and their paintings with the title “Interesting Art Stories”.

The 46th story is “Nighthawks” by Edward Hopper.

Edward Hopper

“Nighthawks” is an oil painting painted in 1942 by Edward Hopper, an American realist painter. It portrays people in a downtown diner late at night as seen through the large glass window of the diner, and the light coming from the diner illuminates the dark and deserted city street.

The painting, which is Hopper's most famous painting as well as one of the most famous paintings in American art, was purchased by the Art Institute of Chicago on May 13, 1942, a few months after the painting was completed.

Art Institute of Chicago

It has been suggested that the painting was inspired by Ernest Hemingway's short story, either "The Killers" or "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place.”

Ernest Hemingway

Some art historians have suggested that the painting may have been inspired by Vincent van Gogh’s “Café Terrace at Night”, which was exhibited in a gallery that Hopper visited frequently at same time he painted this painting.

Café Terrace at Night, Vincent van Gogh
(1888)

Responding to the question for loneliness and emptiness in this painting, Hopper said, "I didn't see it as particularly lonely, but unconsciously, I was painting the loneliness of a large city.”

In this painting, Edward Hopper posed for the two men and his wife Josephine posed for the red-haired woman.

Self-portrait, Josephine Hopper

The scene in this painting was supposedly inspired by a diner in Greenwich Village in Manhattan, which was demolished after the painting. Hopper said “This painting was suggested by a restaurant on Greenwich Avenue where two streets meet.” He also said “I simplified the scene a great deal and made the restaurant bigger.”

This very famous painting has been influenced on many works of culture and arts.

For the paintings, Hopper influenced on the Photorealists of the late 1960s and early 1970s, including Ralph Goings.

Ralph's Diner, Ralph Goings (1981–1982)

Gottfried Helnwein's painting "Boulevard of Broken Dreams (1984)" replaced the four characters in this paintings with American pop culture icons Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, and Elvis Presley.

Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Gottfried Helnwein (1984)

For the films, Hopper was an avid moviegoer and critics mentioned that his paintings resembled film stills.

This painting and his works, such as “Night Shadows (1921),” resemble the look of film noir, in which Hopper may have been influenced.

Night Shadows, Edward Hopper (1921)

Hopper influenced on the musical film "Pennies from Heaven (1981)," for which the film's production designer Ken Adam recreated this painting as a film set.