A few weeks ago, they requested for me to compose an essay about the work of Hopper and the Nighthawks and I, being a good researcher, went to learn more. It is well-known or at the least learned from experience, that to understand a painting, it is necessary to know the history of the painting as well as the artist and above all the context within the which it was painted. Art is definitely an universal thing, that transcends both space and time making it accessible even over the course of many centuries. The meanings are subject to change as society and the world evolve, and what previously could be easily seen, maybe years after, is not as obvious. What was never considered prior to, today could reveal our work in a different manner.

Re-defining a piece of work in the course of time

This is a bit like what I think happens when you view Hopper’s ” Nighthawks” that was shut at the bar late in the night, in that window wich looks like an aquarium, from the same position as the characters he observed.

I believe that , in this painting, Hopper was trying to open up space to the viewer, inviting him to observe the silent serene, well-detailed and peaceful scene that we are presented by the night.

This space, conceived for an active viewer may be the most important element that allows the artwork to be reinterpreted in the course of time, and to remain timeless, eternal, modern, even very modern.

The piece, which was created in 1942, isn’t immediately linked to a specific historical moment However, it is believed that the date of its creation can change with the change of the viewers, based on the time in which the work is observed.

I believe this is what is essential to reading, the space dedicated by the observer that Hopper was hoping to create.

I’ll explain.

Researching information and news on Hopper’s ” Nighthawks”, I was able to see how people describe it by highlighting these elements:

“[…] the solitude, the feeling of emptiness of an environment whose glistening patina starts to lose its luster. […] The distinctively commercial character, the false myths take off their masks and reveal a displaced reality, without valid points of reference in the face of uncertainty and unconscience. ”

Night and transformation

I believe this interpretation is partial and, therefore, it’s an interpretation influenced from the socio-cultural context and by the dating that is attributed to the work: The United States between the 40s and 50s, in the economic boom that redefined social and cultural values in the life of people, a society that is even a little bourgeois, in which nightclubs are seen as places of solitude and despair, as well as a sense of emptiness.

malding in a certain degree, and slightly not.

First time that I saw the painting without having studied it, it gave me joy and peace, with its bright contrast and its nocturnal stillness.

Maybe, coming from a large busy and noisy metropolis, the night is one of those times where I can enjoy the city with more peace: fewer people around and fewer vehicles as well as less noise. There are also more spaces between the streets to choose, and which place to rest under the starless urban sky. The night is a different meaning for me from those who frequented bars in America. United States during the 40s: when the sun goes down the city changes its face, the streets are more open and simple.

We must not forget how society has evolved over the course of more than half a century of social and cultural shifts, that occurred between Pop as well as Rock culture, between the psychoedelic movement and the 2000s.

As a girl in the 90s, I grew up also at night and by that I’m referring to every one of the “formative” experiences that the night provided me with. For me , it’s normal to go out in the evening, often walking through the neighborhood on weekends, searching for the best party, dancing until the early hours, riding a motorbike or driving around in search of the last bar that is open to grab the bread or hot pizza and where you can drink the last glass and light the last cigarette before dawn was set. Maybe from the 80s to the present, nightlife stopped frightening those who stayed at the house (let’s take a look at the jazz movement, anti-prohibitionism and even the notorious Cursed Poets, all perfect nights owls) and it became the cradle where many personalities are able to enjoy the comfort and peace of other night hawks.

Hopper’s contemporary realism

Nowadays Hopper’s painting reminds me of numerous scenes from contemporary life, and make me feel satisfied and sympathize with the last three characters, who have an exchange of words while the bartender cleans the bar to close a day and open another. The nocturnes want to rest in the solitude of their nightly companions. They contemplate their lives, watching them through a glass and meet as a tribe in the night, accepting everyone and judging no one. It’s not a coincidence that in the oldest ancestral civilizations such as the Indian one that the hour and a half before sunrise is known as Brahmamuhurta, or time of Brahma the most ideal time to devote oneself to prayer, meditation studying, and contemplation. In this time, the energies are more acute as well as intense but with an ethereal, spiritual focus.

I don’t see any solitude or empty space in Hopper’s painting. I found more among the streets that were gentrified in the night quarters, as even the right-thinking people started drinking in the evening.

In other words, the most popular and historic areas were transformed into consumer showcases; and the spontaneous aggregations of people in the square were required to arrange themselves into lines waiting to get their turn while the sound of the drums along the other side of the street was drowned out by the police sirens. This is what worries me today, that the night is shattered by its sacred timeless atmosphere, by its being a moment of aggregation for the lone wolves, and is now an unintentional and productive element of the system, demanding clarity and respectability even in the most secluded corners within the cities.