Interpretation Of Alienation In Nighthawks, By Edward Hooper

The famous painting, Nighthawks was painted in 1942 by Edward Hooper, and inspired by a diner located on a wedge shaped corner in Hooper’s old New York neighborhood. Though the diner that inspired Nighthawks has since been destroyed, the image with its nonexistence narrative and detailed composition, has an everlasting quality. The painting portrays four people sitting in a diner late at night. Do the four people know each other? Or have the come to the diner to take refuge in each other’s silent company? The uncommunicative night owls seem as remote from the viewer as they are from one another. This image is Hooper’s most famous piece and is one of the most recognizable paintings in American art. Edward Hooper painted this image in the mix

Although many interpretations are made in regard to the painting, Nighthawks reflects a contextual interpretation through alienation. In the painting, you view the figures as separate from the outside world, nestled in the center of the diner and surrounded by huge glass windows with florescent lighting beaming down on them. They are all victims of an apathetic world, lonely, and isolated. There is also no communication amongst the characters - even though they are not psychically isolated, they are emotionally. There 's also no door shown that would allow the observer conceivable entrance into the lonely nightlife. Also, the streets outside are completely empty, offering those inside no comfort within the enclosed diner, an indictment of detachment. Overall, this painting reflects an honest and uncompromising outlook of the world in the heart of a devastating era, full of war and

The most recent being Gottfried Helnwein’s, Boulevard of Broken Dreams. In this painting, the characters of Hopper’s are switched with Elvis Presley as the bartender, Marilyn Monroe and Humphrey Bogart as the couple, and James Dean, who’s seating position was changed as his back is no longer visible to the viewer, instead it is turned while seated in a cool stance. Everyone in Helnwein’s work is striking a pose most recognizable for those stars, yet the message is the same: lonely and emptiness (Art influenced by Nighthawks.) Another example of recreation in the famous painting Nighthawks was a parody done in 2005 by artist and prankster, Banksy. In this image, Banksy leaves the original characters distracted by a hooligan outside, who’s standing shirtless and in boxer shorts after breaking the window, apparently with a couple of plastic chairs. The man strikes no sense of urgency or fear in the patrons of the diner. They simply turn and look nonchalantly at the wild scene happening outside (Art influenced by