The painting, Nighthawks (1942), by Edward Hopper, has a still, quiet mood to it. There is a small diner on the street corner; it appears to have an advertisement on the roof. This advertisement has a picture of a cigar right before the word “Phillie’s”. Underneath the cigar, it looks like it says “Only 5 C ”. So I am lead to believe that this is an advertisement for Phillie’s. Either this, or, the name of the diner is Phillie’s, or they serve Phillie’s (cheesesteaks), and the cigar just means cigar smoking is allowed. Being that this picture was painted in the early 40’s, they did not have smoking laws back then and it would be pointless to have a picture of a cigar for purposes other than advertisement, so I’ll go with my first impression.
There is no traffic (human or automotive) outside the diner. The streets are dark and the neighboring buildings are lit only by the bright light being cast from the diner’s long continuous windows. The windows follow the contour of the building’s shape which appears to be triangular, perhaps. The windows are long and wide with no curtains, shades or blinds, so through them, you can see the diner’s content as well as its four occupants.
Inside the diner, there is a pool table green-felt colored ledge around the perimeter of the diner, just below the bottom of those long, wide curvaceous panes of glass. There is a long mahogany-brown bar following the same curvature of the building. It seems very well polished because there is a reflection of the waiter’s shirt. There are also matching mahogany-brown round stools following the base of the bar.
Sitting on one of these stools is a gentleman sitting with his back towards the view depicted by the artist. He is dressed in a dark suit with a hat, presumably drinking a cup of coffee which sits to his right. His posture suggests that he perhaps had a long day and is relaxing with a “cup of Joe” before heading home, or maybe his wife kicked him out and he’s sulking, who knows? Around the other side of the bar is another gentleman but by the view depicted by the artist, his face is revealed. He too is wearing a dark suit and a hat, fashion of the day I guess. Both gentlemen blend with the darkness of the outside behind them. If not for the use of shadows it would appear to be two heads floating around. He too is sitting with a cup of coffee to his right; to his left is a woman with a cup of coffee to her left. The woman, along with the building across the street, which is only lit by the light from the diner, is the only splash of color in this picture. She is wearing a red dress, the same red as the building behind her. Also, she has fiery-red hair. The posture and facial expressions of this couple seem bored, or non-excited. The woman is checking out her nails while the gentleman converses with the waiter.
Behind the bar, you can see the pale yellow color of the walls. Along the back wall are two large coffee makers. They are tall, round, and silver. They have little feet at the bottom and the top is shaped like a Hershey’s kiss. The coffee makers resemble a rocket with a tap. Next to the coffee makers on the right is a tall narrow rectangle of orange with a dark square about a third of the way from the top. Maybe it’s a door. In that case, it is not beside the coffee makers, but behind them, which make the diner seem slightly larger than I originally thought.
In the middle of the diner; in the center of the mahogany-brown bar, stands the waiter. He is wearing a uniform of all white, with a little white hat. He has blond hair and is conversing with the gentleman sitting next to the woman. He is stooped over while he looks up to see the man with whom he is speaking. He may be cleaning a glass, maybe consolidating the napkin holders, salt and pepper shakers, and sugar jars. Or maybe he is just getting in some general cleaning during the slow, dead-of-night period.
The mood of this picture is largely due to the lighting and shading of this picture. It is dark but the brightness introduced by the pale yellow walls invites the eye inside the diner. The woman in red helps to balance the picture from being too heavy with darkness on one side by incorporating the same color of the building into the woman’s dress. Also, from looking at the waiter, the picture goes from white to yellow, to brown, to green, to red and then darkness. The use of contrasting colors helps to outline the focal point of the picture.
