Nighthawks, 1942, Edward Hopper, Art Institute Chicago, [no. 22-02-08]

Nighthawks, 1942, Hopper Edward,  Art Institute Chicago, ARTWORK Collection

[no. 22-02-08]

Edward Hopper (1882-1967) is widely acknowledged as the most important realist painter of twentieth-century America.

His career benefited decisively from his marriage to fellow-artist Josephine Nivison, who contributed much to his work, both as a life-model 

and as a creative partner. Hopper was a minor-key artist, creating subdued drama out of commonplace subjects ‘layered with a poetic meaning’, inviting narrative interpretations, often unintended. He was praised for ‘complete verity’ in the America he portrayed.<read!–more-->

In Edward Hopper’s most famous piece, Nighthawks  there are four customers and a waiter, who are in a brightly lit diner at night.