About this artwork
Hopper painted Nighthawks in 1942, in his studio on Washington Square in New York. He was 60, an established painter with a reputation for images of American isolation, and this is the painting that made him famous beyond the art world. It has been reproduced, parodied, and referenced more than almost any other American painting.
Four figures are visible in a brightly lit diner on a dark street corner. Three customers sit at the counter: a man and a woman sitting together at the right, and a lone man at the left, his back to the viewer. A server in a white cap stands behind the counter, reaching for something below the counter. The diner has no door visible from the street: the only entrance is a dark gap at the left edge of the painting. The street outside is empty, the sidewalks bare, the buildings across the street dark and closed. The light from the diner pours through its curved glass front onto the pavement outside.
Hopper said he painted Nighthawks as a response to the attack on Pearl Harbor, which had drawn the United States into World War II in December 1941. The painting was made in the months after the attack, and the sense of unease and isolation in the image reflects the mood of the country. But Hopper also said the painting was about the restaurant on Greenwich Avenue where he lived, and the figures are based on people he knew. The painting is both a specific place and a general mood.
Hopper was born in Nyack, New York, in 1882. He studied at the New York School of Art under Robert Henri and worked as a commercial illustrator for years before establishing himself as a painter. His paintings of American streets, houses, hotels, and diners are characterized by their stark light, their empty spaces, and their sense of stillness. He painted slowly, producing about two or three paintings a year, and he worked from drawings and sketches rather than painting on the spot.
Oil on canvas, 84 by 152 centimeters, roughly 33 by 60 inches. Hopper painted with a smooth, controlled surface, building the forms in thin layers of color. The light in the diner is the painting's subject: it is brighter than any real diner, and it fills the glass front of the restaurant like a display case. The figures are painted with careful attention to their poses and clothing, but their faces are generalized, their expressions unreadable.
The wide horizontal format and urban subject make this print work well in a living room, dining room, or office with modern furniture. The night scene and bright diner light suit a room with minimal decoration. A black frame matches the painting's dark streetscape. The 18x24 size gives the figures and the diner enough room to read.
The painting is in the Art Institute of Chicago, where it has been since 1942.
This is a public domain artwork. We print it on archival matte paper at sizes from 8x10 to 18x24 inches, framed or unframed. The image is printed at full resolution with no cropping.
