NIGHTHAWKS During the late 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, many cultural and social changes were arising in the United States. These changes were portrayed through an art form called American Realism, which attempted to depict the ordinary American life at home during different time periods. Edward Hopper became a well-known realist painter who displayed many common place scenes in his work, that capture the isolation of city life. In 1942, following the Pearl Harbor bombing, he painted his famous Nighthawks painting, which displayed the common themes of loneliness and in this case, wartime isolation, and uses Kairos, along with contrasting dark and light colors and four mysterious individuals, to bring out the deeper messages …show more content…
In Nighthawks, Hopper intentionally dressed the woman in red for this reason. Red is a very emotionally intense color. It is associated with war, strength, and love. Hopper’s choice to dress the woman in red expresses her femininity. She may feel boldness at a time like this, where women are being empowered to work and be strong during a World War. As she sits next to the man, they are portrayed as equal; him a working man, and her a woman who may work a job just like his. Going back to the two big liquid containers, as they mirror their idleness, they mirror them in the sense that they are both equal or identical now. Both men and women in America, during this frightful period of history were one and the same, working for the betterment of their country. Kairos is not only used with the depiction of the diner, it can be found around the whole painting. Edward Hopper made this piece timeless, and very American, with the small sign at the top of the diner that says, “Only 5 cents” with an image of a cigar. Plus, the cash register that could be seen due to the light of the diner, which allows the viewers to imagine the life that goes on during the mornings. Other little familiar details scattered around the diner give Nighthawks it’s very American feel that made it so