Hopper, Nighthawks
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- Опубліковано 1 кві 2012
- Edward Hopper, Nighthawks, 1942, oil on canvas, 84.1 x 152.4 cm / 33-1/8 x 60 inches (The Art Institut of Chicago) Speakers: Dr. Beth Harris & Dr. Steven Zucker. Created by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker.
I've loved this painting forever. I can look back at one night in my life and say that it honestly felt as though I was in this painting.
I really liked this video. The analysis of Hopper's painting is very interesting and complete. Thanks for posting it!
I don't see alienation; I see a respite from alienation.
Look at that beautiful cherry wood counter that dominates the painting. When has something like that ever been in a diner? It's something that would be in some high-end restaurant bar. Diners back then featured cold formica and chrome.
The cherry wood, if not "cheering," emits a warming quality to me, as does the yellow of the walls. The urns are welcoming--coffee being a social drink. I could see someone coming up with the idea of Starbucks from this painting.
The counterman is not ignoring the patrons--rather he seems willing to engage with them. Perhaps not exactly "Cheers," but I see these people as just coming in from the cold reality of 1942 seeking some warmth. The man stares off into space, looking shell-shocked to me.
It's early in their visit and I see the counterman about to facilitate a conversation among the four of them. Perhaps there will be no laughter: but there will be the psychic nourishment of human connection.
What's so fun about this series is that it doesn't matter if we agree with these two particular critics or not: they're simply pointing out details and giving us a historical context that most people miss when we only glance at a painting.
I think this is especially true with masterpieces, which more or less shift into a role of wallpaper - or peripheral vision - after becoming so engrained in pop culture. I'm so happy to see this series for making these pieces seem fresh and new again.
You guys and the Nerdwriter gave a very different analysis on this painting. Both of you opened up my mind to see this painting in different ways than I am used to and thank you for that. It's Ed Hopper's mind blowing piece of work.
I had never heard of Nerdwriter. Thanks for the recommendation.
I love the way these guys explain art
Really loved this. Love the way you described it as an expression of War time alienation
I love this analysis of this painting. I never seen any of Hopper's paintings and this is a quick favorite I have come across as far as visual art goes.
Your video was recommanded to my english class and I got to say, I am not disappointed it's a great analysis, very interesting
I love this painting
I’ve recently been mildly obsessed with Hopper’s paintings - grateful for the UA-cam algorithm for a change for discovering Hoppers work - he seems to paint like a photographer or a DP/Cinematographer for a film - capturing a candid melancholy moment of life - but adding his own narrative through the painting
I’ve been especially obsessed with Nighthawks - there’s something there that I can’t put my finger on yet it’s somehow wildly relatable - sitting alone at a diner in the dead of night - mildly comforted by the light inside - a brief respite from the loneliness - but also serving as a reminder of it. I’ve personally been right there - it doesn’t matter what the characters stories are - we are somehow in “it” together trying to plough through
Great analysis!
The first time I saw Nighthawks in person I processed the work only superficially and it had little effect on me. After researching the piece and watching UA-cam analysis of it, I couldn't wait to go back and see it again. The second viewing was a whole new experience; the loneliness, the isolation and subtle communication of melancholy was palpable. I couldn't stop thinking about it afterwards.
Ridley Scott said this painting was a big influence on the feel he wanted for Blade Runner.
All these years admiring this painting I have never seen the door.
Doesn't this painting remind anyone of "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" by Ernest Hemingway? The idea that there is a place for lonely people to go: a cafe or diner, and inside to a cold outside?
Nerdwriter says the light flooding into the street is significant, because Hopper painted this during an era of mandatory blackouts. The light is optimistic and perhaps defiant.
Defiant? Blackouts were considered a patriotic duty meant to protect New York City and American shipping in support of Britain. Further, while blackouts were mandatory, they were only occasional. The New York Times wrote on this:
There was no continuous nightly blackout in the wartime city. But blackout drills were held from time to time, mostly in the early years of the war, when there were fears that German bombers might appear overhead.
In spring 1942, the Army determined that the glow from New York City’s lights was silhouetting ships offshore, making them easy targets for German submarines that had sunk scores of oil tankers and freighters bound for Britain.
Under an Army-ordered “dimout” - less severe than a blackout - the brilliant neon advertising signs in Times Square went dark. Office buildings and apartment houses throughout the city were required to veil windows more than 15 stories high. Stores, restaurants and bars toned down their exterior lighting. Streetlights and traffic signals had their wattage reduced, and automobile headlights were hooded. Night baseball was banned in the war’s early years at the Dodgers’ Ebbets Field and the Giants’ Polo Grounds. (Yankee Stadium did not yet have lights.) The Statue of Liberty’s torch did not glow. (cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/04/answers-about-world-war-ii-in-new-york-part-iii/)
very good video
they give a great breakdown. i look forward to watching more videos!
Thank you for this! @ 4:26 ...can she say"specificity" 10 times quickly in a row? :)
We need more Hopper it has been five years!!
Ha! We'll see what we can do.
Smarthistory. art, history, conversation. love the videos, Gods speed!
Nah, we need more abstract modern art that glorifies one or two paint colors.
This painting fascinates me so much that I have it as wallpaper on my laptop - but some things I don't understand, and they're all things which aren't there, but should be. The woman is eating a sandwich, but where is her plate and knife? The man is smoking a cigarette, but where is his ashtray? Would there be ketchup bottles on the counter in 1942? I can't see them.
Maybe some questions don't have answers...
i saw this painting at a burger king when i was nine and ever since its been my favorite lol
Beautiful!
I've always liked how Hoppers paintings looked like stills from film noir. I always picture that the man and woman are having an affair and the guy behind the counter introduced them. The other guy is a private eye spying on them.
Congrats!
Mike Fly totally noir influencing, all the up to tech noir and cyberpunk. William Gibson and Ridley Scott (bladerunner) site it as an influence
great video
1942 the United States was just getting into the war. The great unknown lay before. 1943 was the height of the war.
There wasn't a lot of people who had gone overseas yet. Most of them were still going through training.
Eisenhower didn't even get to England until the year was about half over.
Agreed. For the US D-Day and pearl harbour really marked the starting of the height of the war. So more around 1944 even.
Hopper wrote in his notes that this location is on Greenwich Ave---building still there at 11th St. & Greenwich Ave.
I Hope They Put This Painting On L.A. Noire 2.
how does he make the light so. fucking. real. I've never seen anything like it.
It's such a lovely painting. I think I first saw it at Burger King too! haha!
Nighthawks (1942) by Edward Hopper
The perfect song for this picture... "One for my baby"... Frank Sinatra....
How do I go about making contact with Dr Zucker or Dr Harris as I would like to use their commentary in a piece of music I am making for an assessment at University.
Wonder if anyone can help me out. I came across a documentary about a photographer recreated this in a photo. But can't find the video.
Oh I know that..and I LOVE NIGHTHAWKS...what I was reacting to was these 2 are pointing out all these things about the painting both in the painting and inferred and the questions that arise from the painting yet they did not mention that someone is smoking and there is no ashtray in view...
"In fact, there is not even a doorway to let us in to this restaurant" But yes there is, behind the bar. maybe it's the door to the restaurant's kitchen, but I don't see why you would assume that this restaurant has no way in...
Sometimes the literal is the enemy of meaning. We were discussing entry for the viewer from outside, where we stand.
I always thought this painting was about the counterman giving the guy with the butt an ashtray...
What is the woman holding in her hand?
I know your question was from 4 years ago lol, but I thought she was holding either some cash or a box of matches, although on Wikipedia, it says it's a sandwich :)
The couple sitting next to each other is not really a couple, the waiter is looking out through the window at nothing in particular, and the gentleman sitting by himself, we don't know if he has something to read or what he is doing. This is one story. We don't know what story Edward Hopper had in his own mind
Do you think that the woman’s little finger is touching the mans index finger? If so, it changes everything...
1:44 ðə kæpʃɪn sez "ənɪntelɪʤəbl", bət aj θiŋk hi sed "ivɪn"
Dante Quintana brought me here
Not sure what all the complaining is about. Why would you click on a video about art history if It didn't interest you at all and all you were going to go on about was "self indulgent hipsters". Some people are actually here to learn about the artist/the painting because they find it interesting.
Btw, Edward Hopper is a very well known realist painter of the 20s-50s, not some "alcoholic, degenerate loser artist".
I always think Tom Waites..
Why are you whispering?
Thanks for asking. So many video, movies, and TV shows (and their ads) seem to scream at their audiences. We keep our voices lower for two reasons. First, because we don't think its necessary that we raise our voices to a shrill pitch to interest our audiences, and second, we record in front of the actual work of art and in this case the painting is in a museum (the Art Institute of Chicago) and we feel this lower volume (though hardly a whisper) is appropriate for that context.
@@smarthistory-art-history can I just say I love the whispering! Your voices are so calming :) :) please keep up the good work, these videos are some of the best on youtube!