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Explanation Of The Painting 'Nighthawks' By Edward Hooper

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Nighthawks is an oil and canvas painting painted by Edward Hooper in 1942. This realist painting provides the viewer with a look into the 1940s American urban culture from the outside. The viewer is isolated from the scene, given that there is no entry into the diner, just as the portraits in the scene are isolated from each other and the world. Hooper combines the use of color, value, lines, and asymmetrical composition to illustrate the loneliness and isolation in a modern town.
Four figures are seated in a diner, three of them are customers and one of them is the waiter. The figures seem to be conversing but it does not seem to be the case given the lack of eye contact and their facial expressions which do not indicate any form of conversation. Two figures, the man and the woman seating closely, look like a couple and it is like they are holding hands but they are not. The waiter and the other man whose back is shown seem to be communicating, but the lack of eye contact suggests otherwise. Therefore, this painting does not provide a narrative but has a well-constructed composition. This …show more content…

Hooper realistically portrays darkness and brightness in this piece of art by using bright white colors and dark colors. Bright colors dominate the inner scene, the top of the ceiling is the brightest spot made using bright white colors that depict fluorescent lighting used in the 1940s. The fluorescent light illuminates the interior and spreads out to the street through the glass window. Bright yellow colors dominate the walls in addition to the bright green color and the bright red and bright yellow colors of the dinner table and the interior door respectively. The bright colors create a spectacular and a realistic scene inside the diner. The realistic reflections inside the diner and on the street buildings, together with the shadows and the dark colors that dominate the outside scene indicate that it is night

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