Nighthawks By Edward Hopper: Painting Analysis

In this painting “Nighthawks”, by Edward Hopper, there is 4 people, 3 men and a woman. It looks like there is one man alone and a couple. What this painting literally depicts for me is a lonely man and a couple stop by late at night for maybe a cup of tea, or some sort or beverage, maybe even to clear their minds a little or something troubling has happened. The couple does not seem to be married but more in an affair. The man by himself seems to be troubled and came to clear his mind. The town is quite and lonely with nothing to do and no signs of anything interesting happening. Maybe it is late at night and the town has died. The content or what the image means to me is loneliness. There is also a sense of sadness. In the painting, the man
The colors used are mostly shades of brown, gray, green, and other cream like colors. The artist did not use the color blue, a color I would associate with sadness. The artist still managed to evoke a feeling of sadness. The painting is very interesting in how the colors are used and also the lighting. There is only one source of light in the entire painting which comes from the far right side of the painting. As the image progresses from right to left, it gets darker and darker. I would assume that the man behind the counter, is the man giving helpful advice or some sort of guidance to the troubled minds. The manner in which he is depicted is coming off as helpful. I think that’s the reason the artist put the lighting behind the man to lighten the mood around him. As the painting goes from right to left the lighting is reduced, the colors become dimmer and duller and the mood begins to set in. The painting has a good combination of contrasting colors and combining colors. A mood of sadness and loneliness. The use of the shadows is also pretty interesting for it makes everything just a tad darker. The perspective of this painting seems relatively level and concentrated on the