notes on "Nighthawks":
-painted in 1942 by Edward Hopper
-inspired by a diner in greenwich village
-the diner is called "Phillies"
-It is edwards take on the term "night owls", all of the people in the diner aren't talking to each other, they might see each other every night, but hardly ever talk.
-Edward began painting immediatly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the entire country was "gloomy" after the attack, and perhaps these people in the diner are contemplating things like mortality and what an enemy is.
-The scene is probably set in spring or summer, it is warm, based on the clothing, and that makes it even later in the night. Because it is dark, and in the spring/ summer it gets dark after a long time.
-This portrayal of modern urban life as empty or lonely is a common theme throughout Hopper's work. Most every woman he paints is alone and depressed looking.
-There is only one door, and it seems to be a door to a bathroom, making it seem as if all of the people in the diner are trapped there.
-Edward Hopper frequently uses light and shadows to create the mood of a scene.