A Guide to Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks"

Edward Hopper was one of the most iconic American painters of the 20th century. 

Despite living most of his life in the bustling city of New York, his work often focuses on the solitude and isolation that many people experience in the modern world. 

About Nighthawks 

 

Nighthawks is arguably Hopper’s most famous painting and one of the best-known artworks of the twentieth century. 

In an all-night diner, four figures exist together but remain profoundly disconnected. At the counter, a man and woman sit side by side – close physically, yet worlds apart psychologically. Their hands do not touch; his coffee sits cold, while hers steams fresh. Are they a couple, or mere strangers sharing a table? Hopper leaves us to decide, playing with open-ended narratives that demand viewer engagement. 

Opposite them, a solitary man sits with his back turned, accentuating his isolation. He clutches a glass with one hand and rests a newspaper beneath the other. A waiter stands behind the counter, staring blankly outward. No one meets each other’s gaze; no one interacts. In Hopper’s paintings, it is usual for couples to not be communicating, touching, or displaying any affection. Relationships are ambiguous, characters do not interact with each other and they are disconnected, both from themselves and us. 

Hopper said: “Unconsciously, probably, I was painting the loneliness of a large city.”

The architectural precision of the diner showcases Hopper’s meticulous planning. Strong diagonal lines draw the eye inward, while the sharp angle of the glass window creates a voyeuristic barrier between viewer and subject. This hermetically sealed space offers no escape – no visible door leads into or out of the diner, heightening the painting’s uneasy isolation. 

Nighthawks was completed in January 1942 according to Hopper’s wife (Josephine) and was immediately sold to the Art Institute of Chicago for $3,000 where it remains today.  

Inspiration and influences 

 

The oil on canvas painting was completed in January 1942, just weeks after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and America’s entry into World War II. The feeling of dread many Americans had is believed to have influenced the painting. Afraid of air raid attacks, New York had blackout drills and lights were dimmed in public spaces – it became dark and silent, just as in this painting. 

There are 19 surviving sketches for Nighthawks, all with detailed notes by his wife. We know from these notes that she posed for the woman in the painting and Edward posed for the three men. The diner itself, while endlessly searched for in New York, exists only in Hopper’s imagination.

Although Hopper was once grouped with the “American realist painters,” he once said, “I think I am still an impressionist.”

Like the Impressionists, Hopper was obsessed by light. The year before he painted Nighthawks, Café terrace at Night by Vincent Van Gogh was exhibited in New York, which we know Hopper saw and admired. The nighttime setting, artificial light, and the diner’s harsh neon glow, mirror Van Gogh’s work. 

Hopper also loved the theater and movies, and his compositions are often said to be influenced by set design, stage lighting, and the kind of aggressive cropping and angles we see in cinema. Film noir was believed to be a primary influence in his work, and Hopper said his early works may have been influenced by German Expressionist cinema he saw in Paris. 

Legacy

 

Since its creation, Nighthawks cinematic style has influenced generations of filmmakers.

Hopper was an acknowledged influence on the film musical Pennies from Heaven (1981), director Wim Wenders recreated Nighthawks as the set for a film-within-a-film in The End of Violence (1997), and it influenced the “future noir” look of Blade Runner. Director Ridley Scott said, “I was constantly waving a reproduction of this painting under the noses of the production team to illustrate the look and mood I was after.”  And there have been many, many more on both the big screen and on television. 

Nighthawks, like the best movies, is not just about composition and style, it is a masterwork that in a single frame can suggest a narrative that stretches far beyond the picture. It remains a haunting, poetic reminder that even in a crowded world, we are often alone – and that, perhaps, is what connects us all.

Watch the compelling documentary about Hopper’s life and work, Hopper: An American Love Story Exhibition on Screen on Marquee TV.