Nighthawks by Edward Hopper (1942)
Now, let it be said out front: I'm not really a fellow who's much for art. I do enjoy the occasional drawings and especially paintings, but in no way should you be able to think that arguing about Picasso's paintings or Matissés' style with me is a favorable way to pass the time. It just isn't in me to be that knowledge about art.
Despite this somewhat negative statement regarding our subject, I'm willing to admit that, I do enjoy paintings. I see paintings as the purest form of art, since the entire operation to paint one, in my opinion, is about transforming an idea from your head to the canvas through sheer hard and maticulate work. I respect painters - but only the ones who are actually good.
The work of art I've chosen here is a painting by a famous (if not the most famous) american artist by the name of Edward Hopper. He died in the late sixties, but did many very interesting works before moving on to paint at the great canvas in the sky. The painting portrays a group of people sitting in a diner very late at night. Around them an empty, and some might even say cold cityscape of a nameless population center unfolds.
First of all, I feel it necessary to tell you a little bit more about the reason for my fascination towards this painting. Now, I remember seeing this painting on a comprehensive school literature book once many years ago. I remember being fascinated at the picture's dark and urban setting. The next time I saw a picture of this painting on a literature book meant for upper secondary school students. At that time, a reaction finally arose in me to find more about this rather interesting painting. The problem was, however, that I couldn't remember the name of the painting correctly. I didn't know that the painter was Hopper, either.
So, years went by, and I still kept on searching for this one particular painting with the people sitting in the diner at night - but all the while memorizing it with the wrong name ! The other day, not too long ago, I managed to find someone's photoshop pictures (read: altered images done with a program on your computer), which had in them a slightly modified version of Nighthawks. I only managed to get painter's last name, but luckily that was more than I needed to uncover the entire story behind this picture.
Many art reviewers have called this painting a perfect example of modern, urban life in the city along with its' rootlessness. It is certainly a possibility in the interpretation of this painting, but to me this particular painting has always been something a bit different. The painting, as you see, has been painted in the 1940's - and to me that era with its' art deco style of classyness has always been somewhat of an interest. The clearly retro theme of the painting attracts me more than, say, the deeper meaning behind it. The scene which has been painted here is also clearly taking place in the night, which in itself is a very mysterious and dark enviroment. The eerie glow of the diner attracts me somehow, and the petrified scene playing inside its' walls strangely reminds me of some sort of an cinematic experience. The painting definately has got a film noir atmosphere as well.
I think, that in the case that this painting would somehow be brought to life, all of the characters in it would stay surprisingly quiet. There would be no cheesy pick-up lines from the man sitting next to the woman, nor would there be a casual "you want more coffee, sir ?" from the diner attendant behind the counter. I think that each and everyone of them would just stay there quietly, with their thoughts and possibly even hopes and dreams mixing into the eerie neon glow of the diner. To me, this painting does, in a sense, represent loneliness in the way that each and everyone of us has problems, that have to be settled and pondered in the privacy of our own minds. Indeed everyone is alone in this painting, but not because of the city or the confines of modern life - rather I'd say that it represents each and every one of us having our own problems to deal with despite being almost constantly in contact with other people. Perhaps this painting is all about failing to communicate. Perhaps all of the characters in this painting are merely there because they can't talk about their problems with their families or loved ones. These people could very well be the embodinements of the so-called "strong silent types", who usually go down with their own - and sometimes severe problems without ever telling a soul.
Many reviewers have also pointed out, that the diner has no visible exits. There's no way to get in or out. Now, this is an interesting aspect in the painting. The most common interpretation would probably be, that the doorless diner represents the cold and lonely urban life which leaves the individual alone and helpless. I see it as the embodiment of one's mind: some of us are indeed alone inside our heads along with our individual problems. There's no visible way out. Thus we come to a close, when the doorless diner represents one's mentally tortured cranium, and the people sitting inside it mimicking problems of a socially challenged individual. In a sense, this painting can also be a depiction of individuality in my mind: you've got these four people all sitting alone in a diner, which represents life and death. As with death, you cannot run away from it, but these cunning people inside the diner representing individualists have chosen to survive life as long as it takes on their own until unescapable death comes. The nightly streets in my second theory represent something between the unknown future, uncertainty of life and mainstreamway of living. Any one of these three possibilities could be lurking around the individualists' lives.
Perhaps my theories sound way too crazy for you, but that's the way I see this painting. I believe we all see art in a different way, and in this case, I believe that Nighthawks has alot more to offer in the way of interpretation than mere social commentary. This particular painting, ladies and gentlemen, is as much a psychological journey into one's mind as it a monument to individuality in the modern society.
Now, let it be said out front: I'm not really a fellow who's much for art. I do enjoy the occasional drawings and especially paintings, but in no way should you be able to think that arguing about Picasso's paintings or Matissés' style with me is a favorable way to pass the time. It just isn't in me to be that knowledge about art.
Despite this somewhat negative statement regarding our subject, I'm willing to admit that, I do enjoy paintings. I see paintings as the purest form of art, since the entire operation to paint one, in my opinion, is about transforming an idea from your head to the canvas through sheer hard and maticulate work. I respect painters - but only the ones who are actually good.
The work of art I've chosen here is a painting by a famous (if not the most famous) american artist by the name of Edward Hopper. He died in the late sixties, but did many very interesting works before moving on to paint at the great canvas in the sky. The painting portrays a group of people sitting in a diner very late at night. Around them an empty, and some might even say cold cityscape of a nameless population center unfolds.
First of all, I feel it necessary to tell you a little bit more about the reason for my fascination towards this painting. Now, I remember seeing this painting on a comprehensive school literature book once many years ago. I remember being fascinated at the picture's dark and urban setting. The next time I saw a picture of this painting on a literature book meant for upper secondary school students. At that time, a reaction finally arose in me to find more about this rather interesting painting. The problem was, however, that I couldn't remember the name of the painting correctly. I didn't know that the painter was Hopper, either.
So, years went by, and I still kept on searching for this one particular painting with the people sitting in the diner at night - but all the while memorizing it with the wrong name ! The other day, not too long ago, I managed to find someone's photoshop pictures (read: altered images done with a program on your computer), which had in them a slightly modified version of Nighthawks. I only managed to get painter's last name, but luckily that was more than I needed to uncover the entire story behind this picture.
Many art reviewers have called this painting a perfect example of modern, urban life in the city along with its' rootlessness. It is certainly a possibility in the interpretation of this painting, but to me this particular painting has always been something a bit different. The painting, as you see, has been painted in the 1940's - and to me that era with its' art deco style of classyness has always been somewhat of an interest. The clearly retro theme of the painting attracts me more than, say, the deeper meaning behind it. The scene which has been painted here is also clearly taking place in the night, which in itself is a very mysterious and dark enviroment. The eerie glow of the diner attracts me somehow, and the petrified scene playing inside its' walls strangely reminds me of some sort of an cinematic experience. The painting definately has got a film noir atmosphere as well.
I think, that in the case that this painting would somehow be brought to life, all of the characters in it would stay surprisingly quiet. There would be no cheesy pick-up lines from the man sitting next to the woman, nor would there be a casual "you want more coffee, sir ?" from the diner attendant behind the counter. I think that each and everyone of them would just stay there quietly, with their thoughts and possibly even hopes and dreams mixing into the eerie neon glow of the diner. To me, this painting does, in a sense, represent loneliness in the way that each and everyone of us has problems, that have to be settled and pondered in the privacy of our own minds. Indeed everyone is alone in this painting, but not because of the city or the confines of modern life - rather I'd say that it represents each and every one of us having our own problems to deal with despite being almost constantly in contact with other people. Perhaps this painting is all about failing to communicate. Perhaps all of the characters in this painting are merely there because they can't talk about their problems with their families or loved ones. These people could very well be the embodinements of the so-called "strong silent types", who usually go down with their own - and sometimes severe problems without ever telling a soul.
Many reviewers have also pointed out, that the diner has no visible exits. There's no way to get in or out. Now, this is an interesting aspect in the painting. The most common interpretation would probably be, that the doorless diner represents the cold and lonely urban life which leaves the individual alone and helpless. I see it as the embodiment of one's mind: some of us are indeed alone inside our heads along with our individual problems. There's no visible way out. Thus we come to a close, when the doorless diner represents one's mentally tortured cranium, and the people sitting inside it mimicking problems of a socially challenged individual. In a sense, this painting can also be a depiction of individuality in my mind: you've got these four people all sitting alone in a diner, which represents life and death. As with death, you cannot run away from it, but these cunning people inside the diner representing individualists have chosen to survive life as long as it takes on their own until unescapable death comes. The nightly streets in my second theory represent something between the unknown future, uncertainty of life and mainstreamway of living. Any one of these three possibilities could be lurking around the individualists' lives.
Perhaps my theories sound way too crazy for you, but that's the way I see this painting. I believe we all see art in a different way, and in this case, I believe that Nighthawks has alot more to offer in the way of interpretation than mere social commentary. This particular painting, ladies and gentlemen, is as much a psychological journey into one's mind as it a monument to individuality in the modern society.
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