Jillian Evans

Period 2

Nighthawks

Few pieces of twentieth-century art are as recognizable as Nighthawks, a 33 1/8 × 60 inch

oil painting by American realist painter Edward Hopper. By far the most famous out of Hopper’s

works, the painting portrays four figures seated in a well-lit downtown diner, clearly well into

the night. The perspective from which the diner is observed is a good distance away from it; as if

the viewer is standing there, looking through the large glass window that curves around the side

of the building. Light pours from inside of the diner and onto the nearby street, illuminating the

surrounding streets and buildings. Closest to this window sits a man at the counter, his back to

the viewer, posture giving away no hints about him or his life. The man working this counter

wears an unreadable expression, and no clues to what he might be feeling can be discerned from

his surroundings. Lastly, a man and a woman sit close together on the furthest side of the

counter, the nature of their relationship not elaborated upon beyond the fact that they are sitting

next to each other. None of these figures seem to have been intended to be communicating in any

obvious ways; no matter how their placements, expressions, and other aspects of their

appearance can be read. Combined with the fact that the diner noticeably lacks a visible entrance,

the viewer seems to be intended to remain in the dark about what is going on here. The distanced

perspective and seeming lack of narrative gives the audience the sense that the figures in the

diner are almost as far away from each other as they are from them.

How Nighthawks is composed is an important part of why it is so easily recognizable and

iconic. The simple setting of the diner has a timeless quality to it, preventing the painting from

feeling dated despite its age; but more importantly, it serves as an effective way to use line
throughout the painting. The edges of the window and the counter both move smoothly towards

one side of the canvas, directly to where the four figures sit; effectively guiding the viewer’s

eyes to this section. Hopper’s use of lighting is also well executed and supports the flow of the

diagonal composition well. The dark space outside of and behind the diner is made up of

predominantly blue and green hues, which pushes the viewer’s eye to the lighter, warmer parts of

the painting almost seamlessly. However, that being said, these areas are not overwhelmingly

warm in hue. The light cast from the lights inside of the diner is cool, most likely intended to be

coming from fluorescent bulbs, which had recently been developed and put into common use in

the years leading up to the creation of Nighthawks. An important effect of this lighting is that,

especially when combined with the darker surroundings, it pops out as being distinctly man

made and almost eerie. Color choice is another factor largely at play here. The lean towards

cooler colors gives the painting a literal lack of warmth that heavily plays into its urban setting

and overall lonely tone. No emotional warmth is implied to exist between the characters, both by

the characters themselves and by the very nature of the painting’s color composition.

In addition, the level of detail in Nighthawks is also noteworthy. Hopper achieves a

fantastic level of depth in adding just enough detail throughout the piece. The buildings that

make up the background are painted in such a way that their depth and contents are shown to the

viewer through subtle, well thought out shifts in color. The portion of these buildings resting

behind the glass window is also blurred slightly, effectively pushing it further back in the

composition than the other section of these buildings. The highest level of detail can be found in

the four figures sitting in the diner as well as the objects surrounding them. The amount of

objects within the diner is limited; nothing shown beyond the bare essentials needed to identify it

as a diner, preventing any one spot from looking busier than the rest.
 The history of the painting’s ownership has been a very smooth, uneventful journey.

Nighthawks was bought by The Art Institute of Chicago in 1942, the very same year it was

painted. It has since remained display in the institute's collection, easily viewable by the public.

However, the history of this piece becomes much more interesting when one considers the

numerous pieces of media it has impacted. Nighthawks, along with many of Hopper’s other

works, have been credited with influencing the recognizable appearance and tone of the film noir

genre. On top of this, Nighthawks has served as visual inspiration for several individual films

over the years. One example of this is the 1982 science fiction thriller Blade Runner, starring

Harrison Ford. The film’s director, Ridley Scott, has specifically cited Nighthawks as an

inspiration for the movie’s general look and mood (Sammon, 74). Many authors have written

poems and short stories based directly off of Nighthawks as well; each adding their own unique

narrative to the painting. It is also worth noting that this piece has been commonly parodied for

decades, with many parodies taking on the same composition and diner setting as the original,

but replacing the four figures with other characters; such as animals or holiday mascots. Scale

models based on Nighthawks also exist, with a notable one to one model serving as the reception

area of Electronic Theatre Controls’ lobby.

To summarize, Nighthawks is a well-known oil painting by American realist painter

Edward Hopper. It has been owned by The Art Institute of Chicago since the year of its

completion, and remains on display there. The painting’s setting and tone, combined with the

distant nature of its subjects, creates a timeless feeling of the loneliness of urban life. The

recognizable diagonal composition, as well as Hopper’s highly effective use of lighting and

color, help draw the viewer’s eye to the primary subjects of the piece. Owing to its well executed
composition and setting, Nighthawks has served as inspiration for countless other pieces of

media over the years.

Sammon, Paul M. Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner. Dey Street, 1996. Print.