Nighthawks
Edward Hopper
American
1942
My first impressions:
the setting looks like a town or a city; the building on the right seems to be a diner or bar because 3 people are sitting on stools and leaning on a counter. I like the lighting in this picture because it's dark outside of the building but light inside which makes us focus on that. In fact, it seems that the only light is coming from the building. This sort of gives off a lonely and empty feeling. What intrigues me is the simplicity of the things in the painting, especially the architecture. The big windows make it easy to see the people inside.
What I have learned:
The building in the center is based off of a diner on Greenwich Avenue in New York. This followed Hopper's style in which he tended to paint from the outside looking in. Light played a very big role in this painting. The glow draws our eyes to the diner and makes us wonder about the people inside, what their story is
How he creates a sense of unity:
As mentioned before, the contrast of light has emphasis on the painting. However even though the light may separate the inside from the oustide, the two must be present in the painting or there would be no contrast. So while some may think that the diner is the most important part of the painting, the ouside is just as important. I noticed some repetition going on in the background. The building in the dark has windows lined up horizontally. This leads our eyes in the direction of the repeating windows, which eventually becomes the diner. So there are a number of elements that bring our focus to the diner.
