Nighthawks

Nighthawks is a painting done in 1942 by Edward Hopper. It depicts people at a downtown diner late at night as viewed through its large window. The painting is an example of modernism. It is found in the Art Institute of Chicago. The inspiration for the diner was one in Greenwich Village. The perspective makes it so the diner has no apparent entrance, making the viewer feel isolated. The customers and attendant are also isolated, both physically and emotionally. Loneliness is a common theme of Hopper.